Tom Pidcock will not race Liège-Bastogne-Liège due to crash injuries

Tom Pidock will miss Liège-Bastogne-Liège as he is still feeling the effects of his late crash in La Fleche Wallone. 

Ineos Grenadiers said that the 21-year-old would be 'resting up' instead and  preparing for his first MTB race of the year in Switzerland next weekend. 

Although he finished sixth in Fleche Wallone it appears he has been unable to recover in time for Sunday's Monument.

Feel like I’ve been hit by a bus today. I’ve forgotten how hard roads are in comparison to mud 💩😂 pic.twitter.com/TzdDXw66ec

— Tom Pidcock (@Tompid) April 22, 2021

In a statement, the team said:  "Bad news for [Tom Pidcock] fans - he will now miss #LBL, as he's still feeling the effects of his crash at Fleche on Wednesday.

"Good news - he's resting up, and will be ready for his first MTB race of the season in Switzerland next weekend."

Pidcock has impressed throughout this year's spring campaign. He finished a respectable fifth in Strade Bianche before taking an surprising win against Wout van Aert and Matteo Trentin at Brabantse Pijl.

He also narrowly missed out on victory in the Amstel Gold Race in one of the closest photo finishes the sport has ever seen. 

Coming in to replace Pidcock at Liège on Sunday will be Eddie Dunbar, who will complete the Ineos line-up alongside Richard Carapaz, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Michal Golas, Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe and Adam Yates.

Bad news for @Tompid fans - he will now miss #LBL, as he's still feeling the effects of his crash at Fleche on Wednesday.

Good news - he's resting up, and will be ready for his first MTB race of the season in Switzerland next weekend 👊 pic.twitter.com/E0XFItlq05

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) April 24, 2021

Kwiatkowski, 30, whose form appears to have improved as the season has progressed, said: “I’m excited.

"[La Doyenne] is always the finish of my spring block and this year it’s been super tricky coming into the Ardennes with my broken rib, but I feel great to be honest.

“I’ve taken a different approach, going into this period with an altitude camp.

"I felt wonderful in Amstel, Flèche, and we’ve had some great performances from the team. Tom nearly had it in Amstel and I’ve enjoyed the last two races so much, racing with these boys.

“In the last couple of years I felt a little bit alone sometimes as the leader, but this year we have so many options and we can play the racing game differently.

“I always believe in the Classics that you should always have some cards to play, and we have those in Liege, even though we will miss Tom.

"We can support each other, and Amstel was a good example - we were in the winning moves many times. If a Grenadier is at the front of the bunch, ahead, we’re happy. That’s what we’re aiming for. We will all celebrate.

“We are enjoying riding our bikes here. The weather has been good, we enjoyed a recon of Liege together, on our easy days we can ride on the Dutch bike paths. We can’t ask for more.”