The blister on Tom Pidcock's hand was a perfect representation of his Paris-Roubaix debut and 17th place finish. The Ineos-Grenadier racer crashed before the opening time trial in Ituria, Basque Country, and was a late entry into the northern hell. He is targeting the Ardennes Classics next Sunday, starting with the Amstel Gold Race, but also wanted to test his form and get a taste of elite-level racing after winning the junior and U23 editions of Paris-Roubaix.

"It was a totally different race. The speed was pretty amazing," an obviously exhausted Pidcock told Cycling News and GCN after returning to the Ineos Grenadiers team bus after anti-doping.

"It was a pretty epic race. I couldn't hold the bars at the end of the race, which was the biggest problem. There's not much else to say; I think a top-20 finish is not bad."

Pidcock recovered quickly from Ituria's crash. He finished the race unable to put any weight on his hip, but after a week of training, he started Paris-Roubaix without a reconnaissance ride. His last major race on the French cobbles was in 2019, when he won the U23 race.

However, he was in a good position when Alpecin Deceununc split the race again early in the race after the Arenberg forest sector and as the cobblestone sector went into countdown. Van der Pol attacked with 60km to go, and the selected lead group fought for the podium.

There was not enough power to take on Van der Pol, Mads Pedersen, and the other big-name rouleurs, and contact was eventually lost.

"The race was in pieces from the first sector.

"It was a big day, but there wasn't much I could do; at the end of the day the weight was on me and my power was limited."

Pidcock showed clear signs of race fatigue after five and a half hours of running 55.7 km of cobblestone roads at an average speed of 47.802 km/h.

His emotions were a mixture of love and hate for Paris-Roubaix, and perhaps he remained unsure if Paris-Roubaix was the most beautiful race in the sport or if he would one day return to win the famous cobbled trophy.

"It was a good race, but I struggle to have the energy to sum up my day," he said.

"But the speed of the race makes me feel as if I'm doing drugs.

"Maybe today has changed my mind about Paris-Roubaix. Winning Paris-Roubaix is actually much harder."

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