Pidcock stumbles with broken gear: his bid for victory on stage 9 of the Tour de France ends due to a mechanical failure.

Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) could have been the star of stage 9 of the Tour de France , but a nasty mechanical failure ruined his plans right at the heart of the race. His electronic handlebar shifter stopped working during the final sprint, forcing him to use the auxiliary shifter located on the top of the levers—a fallback solution that left him unable to compete on equal terms with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), the eventual stage winner in Ussel.

The day's breakaway formed after about 50 km of frenetic racing starting from Malemort. Pidcock managed to join the leading group along with Van der Poel, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility). All four made it through the final category climb unchallenged, with the main peloton now too far behind to rejoin.

Cameras had already captured Pidcock waving his hand wildly and kicking the rear derailleur, a clear sign of a mechanical problem. But the Briton later explained to reporters that the kick didn't solve anything: "At the end of the climb, the gear shift stopped working, and I couldn't downshift. I realized only the top shifter was working. Then, in the sprint, I was focused and instinctively moved lower on the handlebars—but the button there wouldn't respond. I had to go back to the levers, and by then it was too late."

Once it became clear that the four leaders would resist the re-entry of the peloton, Pidcock threw himself headlong into the sprint, forgetting, however, that his standard gear shifter wasn't working. Unable to shift into the right gear at the right time, he couldn't keep up with Van der Poel's explosive acceleration toward the finish line.

"I don't know what happened. The bike was working perfectly all day, and just when victory was within reach, everything broke. Only the top button worked, the other didn't. Kicking the derailleur? It didn't help."

Despite the disappointment, Pidcock appeared surprisingly calm at the finish line. He rode back to the team bus on teammate Quinten Hermans ' bike and was optimistic about highlighting the positive side of his performance: "Today my legs were really good, I felt strong. Compared to the last time I was in a breakaway at the Tour—the cobbled stage in 2024—today I was really in the game, a protagonist. This shows that my level is higher."

He then mimed how the alternative control worked for the press, explaining: "I knew I could only change gear with the top button, but in the sprint I concentrated, instinctively moved down on the handlebars and couldn't downshift anymore. It's a shame, but I did what I could. Mathieu would have been incredibly tough to beat in that kind of finish anyway."

For fantasy cycling, this stage 9 offers some very interesting insights. Pidcock is clearly on the rise : after a disappointing start to the Tour, with his overall hopes already dashed and some lapses in preparation, admitted by the rider himself, today he demonstrated a significantly higher level of competitiveness than in previous weeks. With numerous transition stages coming up in the second week and a return to Alpe d'Huez—where he won in 2022—in the third, the Briton is a name to keep at the forefront of fantasy cycling rosters. Those who already have him on their team shouldn't let go; those who don't have him might be the right time to consider a signing.

"I'm not that disappointed. I'm happy that I was able to at least shift gears at the end and be there to fight for the win. At least I was in the right group sprinting for the win."