Tom Pidcock: Ineos Grenadiers rider sees no end to mixing up cycling disciplines - ‘I need fresh things’
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Published 01/05/2024 at 09:31 GMT
British cyclist Tom Pidcock says he would get bored if he stuck to one discipline, as he prepares to defend his Olympic mountain bike cross-country title, a week after competing on the road at the Tour de France. The 24-year-old wants a “career that no one else has been able to have” by targeting victories at the World Championships, or one of the Monument races.
Amstel Gold Race highlights: Pidcock sneaks sprint win as Van der Poel misses key move
Tom Pidcock says he is targeting a cycling career “that no one else has been able to have” by continuing to win titles across road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike disciplines.
The 24-year-old is preparing to defend his Olympic cross-country title for Team GB in Paris this summer, an event which takes place a week after the conclusion of the Tour de France.
Pidcock is also a cyclo-cross world champion from 2022, while he has already claimed a Tour stage win, and the Ineos Grenadiers rider is keen to maintain a schedule which is full of variety.
“I could never see myself winning five back-to-back Tours or anything like that,” he told PA.
“I need fresh things. If I won everything once, that’s better than a lot of a few things.
“I’ve won Strade, Amstel, a stage of the Tour, I’m Olympic champion, a world champion in cross and on the mountain bike.
“If I can win a Monument or the worlds on the road, even if I’m just on the podium in the Tour, that’s a career that no one else has been able to have.”
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'No photo finish needed today' - Pidcock banishes ghosts of 2021
Pidcock’s biggest win of the season came just two and a half weeks ago, when he beat Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) in a sprint finish to claim victory in the Amstel Gold Race, having recovered from a crash which saw him miss the Tour of the Basque Country before the event had even begun.
Although his day job is with Ineos Grenadiers, Pidcock says team managers are understanding that he needs to mix up his diary - with the Olympics his number one goal this year.
“I think anything that wasn’t my choice would be detrimental to me as a bike rider,” said Pidcock, who believes mountain bike racing is his most natural discipline.
“I don’t do anything well that I don’t enjoy. The road incorporates many different types of riders. I want to do well on the road.
"I see myself as a road rider, but if you really had to say what sort of rider I am, it’s mountain bike. It’s the one I enjoy without fail.”
Pidcock will make his Olympic title defence on Monday, July 29 with the Tour de France beginning on Saturday June 29. Both events will be live in full across Eurosport and discovery+.
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