Fred Wright riding a crest of a wave in first serious Tour de France tilt

Whatever else Fred Wright goes on to achieve in his fledgling career as a professional road racer, the chances are he is never going to forget his first proper tilt at the Tour de France.

The Herne Hill cyclist has announced his arrival on the world stage with some blistering days at La Grande Boucle – to give it its affectionate nickname – and he has been within touching distance of claiming the top podium place all 170-odd riders dream about when they set off at the start of the 21-stage race.

Last week, Wright, who only turned 23 last month, proved he had the staying power, being part of a couple of breakaways, which challenged until the very last.

And it was only the superior sprint skills of the Dane Mads Pedersen of the Trek Segafredo team which denied him in Friday’s stage 13 race of 193km from Bourg D’Oisans to Saint Etienne.

Perhaps buoyed by the astonishing win by compatriot Tom Pidcock the day before on the legendary climb up the Alpe d’Huez, Wright tackled the stage believing anything was possible for him.

Not for the first time during the three-week marathon, he found himself in the leading bunch, his red Bahrain Victorious jersey starting to become a familiar sight.

When it got down to just three riders with the finishing line in sight, Wright already knew that he was unlikely to beat Pedersen in the final kilometre, even if he had the measure of Canadian rider Hugo Houle of Israel-Premier Tech – who would go on to win Tuesday’s stage 16 into Foix.

But a second place in only his second participation in the competition – he finished a modest 96th in 2001 – is still something to be proud of.

“I gave everything today,” he tweeted after the race. “In the end, Mads Pedersen was just too strong, congrats mate.”

Alongside an image of a second-placed medal he wrote: “At the world’s biggest bike race [that] ain’t too bad.”

He said in a post-race interview: “I was trying to get Mads to do some of the work at the end, but it’s hard, man. I just didn’t quite have it over the top of that kicker.

“Before that I thought ‘maybe okay, I can go!’ but Hugo tried it basically and all I could do was hug [his] wheel. I was just hoping to surprise him.

“What Tom did was absolutely phenomenal. It would have been pretty special to have two of us boys win two stages in a row, but it is what it is.”

Learning all the time, he came 10th in a bunch sprint into Carcassonne on Sunday, ahead of the rest day and the final week of racing, which is being completely dominated by the yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, winner of the last two editions.

Could a stage win yet come for Wright, though? “I hope so. I’m going to keep trying,” he said.