Cycling News witnessed Tom Pidcock sitting silently for several minutes after the finish of stage 9, looking shocked and disappointed at the pain of racing on gravel roads and finishing second in the Tour de France.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider went on the attack with 150km to go and continued to lead the pack, fighting for victory on gravel segment after gravel segment.

Chase groups, counter attacks, and even an attack by Tadei Pogachar often closed in on the breakaway, but eventually broke away and even caught a lone attack by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl Trek).

Canada's Derek Gee (Israel Premier Tech) led the sprint. Pidcock speeded up from behind, but Anthony Turgis was even faster, giving his Total Energies team a special Tour de France victory.

Pidcock suffered defeat after racing hard.

"I was on full gas all day. The level of the Tour is crazy. I missed this chance," Pidcock said after the pain had eased and he had collected his thoughts.

"But I can be proud. I struggled early in this race. When things go wrong it's difficult."

Pidcock has already dropped out of GC, and Ineos Grenadiers has asked him to support Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal. He was given the chance to attack on the gravel stages and use his mountain biking skills and power to try to win a stage.

Racing in a breakaway group in the Tour de France is always difficult, but Pidcock raced smartly until the last few meters and the sprint for victory.

"It was tough. I weighed less than 57 kg this morning and my average wattage over the four and a half hours was 280 watts. It was a tough race," Piddock said of his performance.

"It's always difficult, but you have to understand that everyone in the group is in it to win.

"When you are in a group like this you don't show your true feelings and you don't react quickly to attacks.

"It was a good scenario. I knew that if Steuben went, he would be strong. When he went, I was up front and I was hoping the other players would respond from behind.

"After riding hard all day, the sprint was always going to be tricky. You never know what's going to happen. But the kick was a little late. Maybe I need to race more like Cav ......."

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