Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) was forced to precisely measure his efforts against a stronger Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) in order to limit his losses at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
The British rider admitted that he could not stay with the World Champion when he made his winning late-race attack, but by riding at his own pace, he was able to finish second place and so stand on his first Monument podium. It is also the United Kingdom's best ever finish in Liège, and the first podium for the UK since Philippa York took third in 1988.
"Today was, of course, it was hard, there are no easy races now. I measured my effort on La Redoute so that I knew I could close the gap on the descent," Pidcock, third last week in Amstel Gold, said afterwards.
"On the next climb, I was on the limit, and I knew that, here, I could either commit full gas and maybe end up with nothing or wait a bit and try and go for second. I still finished second, so the plan paid off."
Overwhelming favourite Tadej Pogačar was forced to abandon after a crash 85km into the race, where he fractured his wrist and was taken to hospital for immediate surgery.
Evenepoel, who was also a favourite to win the race, put pressure on Côte de la Redoute, but Pidcock was able to reconnect with him on the descent.
The World Champion then made his winning surge over the Côte de Cornemont, leaving Pidcock behind and soloing some 30km to victory.
"It was hard. He asked me for a turn, and I said, 'No,' and then he rode full gas, and I got dropped," Pidcock said.
Pidcock ended up winning the chase-group sprint for second place, while Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) was in third place on the podium, and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) was fourth in Liege.
"Of course, my ambition is to win, and I want to win, but Remco was incredibly strong today. It was my first podium in a Monument, so I can be happy with it," Pidcock said.
"I didn't have much luck at this race in previous years. I was ill in the first one and didn't start, and last year, I was also sick in the race. So, this is my first successful one, and I'll take this as a positive."
