Tom Pidcock made his return to racing in Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday, but the Ineos Grenadiers rider revealed after a relatively low-key ride that he has ongoing stomach problems.

Pidcock, who missed Strade Bianche and abandoned Milan-San Remo due to digestive problems, returned to racing at Ghent-Wevelgem, which was not even on his original schedule.

He was heartened to finish the 250 km race in 67th place, which conversely suggests that he is far from his best form, even though he is only a week removed from the Tour of Flanders.

"It was a hard day, but I am happy with myself. To finish the race is a good sign for what lies ahead," Pidcock told the assembled journalists, including Cyclingnews, after the Wevelgem finish. [Today was painful. It was hard today. But we got off to a good start. We had a good base. I was on full throttle today. Even when I was down in the standings, I opened the throttle all the way to see where I was. I lost a lot of ground, but that's reality. You have to look at the positive side."

Pidcock was involved in a group crash with 100km to go, but managed to recover and rode strongly on the first of three Kemmelberg climbs. However, he soon ran into trouble and was unable to line up with the strong field on the next two steep cobbled climbs.

On the second climb, he attacked from the chase group, but the race was back to square one. However, on the final climb, he dropped out of the group.

"I was feeling great, but after the first Kemmel, I wasn't. 'I was at the front in the first Kemmel. Maybe that paid off."

The big question mark surrounding Pidcock is the root cause of his stomach problems. He says he didn't have enough races, but he also reveals that he was having trouble digesting food, especially deep in the race.

"I'm feeling good. It may just be that my stomach is suffering from not being able to take in carbohydrates at the end of the race," Pidcock said.

He had blood work done last week, but so far it has been inconclusive.

"We did blood work and some other tests. I honestly don't know the details. It's not normal, but we're doing everything we can."

"I don't really know. My liver is kind of... It doesn't handle things very well, and it takes a while to heal. In the past when I had stomach problems when I was younger, it was pretty painful, so, yeah, that's kind of what it is."

With the Tour of Flanders just a week away, Pidcock was pessimistic about his chances of winning the Monument. He will race again on Wednesday at the Dwar door Hlaanderen, which will be an important mid-week indicator.

While it would be a blow to fall below the standings in Flanders, Pidcock has the Amstel Gold Race coming up on April 9, and La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the second half of April.

"To be honest, I don't know when I'll be back to my usual self. But I'll do what I can and hope to be as soon as possible."