Tom Pidcock proved himself to be probably the most multifaceted riders of his technology, including the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship title on the 2023 elite males’s race in Scotland.
Having gained the UCI Cyclocross Worlds and the Alpe d’Huez stage of the Tour de France final yr, gained Strade Bianche and landed podiums in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Amstel Gold Race and raced as a co-GC contender for Ineos Grenadiers on the Tour this yr, what sort of rider is he: off-road, Classics or Grand Tour?
“I haven’t got to decide on, do I?” was the Briton’s response when requested by Cyclingnews.
There aren’t sufficient superlatives to place beside the 24-year-old’s identify, and he put in yet one more outstanding efficiency at Glentress Forest in Scotland on Saturday. Beginning on the fifth row, it took him little time to search out his solution to the entrance of the bunch earlier than going off in pursuit of the early leaders.
Mid-race, he was on the entrance along with South Africa’s Alan Hatherly and 10-time World Champion Nino Schurter (Switzerland) and, on the penultimate lap, stormed away on a climb.
As Hatherly and Schurter cracked, New Zealander Sam Gaze got here on sturdy from behind, and relegated the Swiss rider to the bronze medal.
The British rider may really feel the strain coming from behind as Gaze got here as shut as 14 seconds to reaching Pidcock, however could not make the catch.
Pidcock stated he may solely chill out and soak within the cheers of his dwelling crowd when he got here to the road as a result of some slipping gears on his new Pinarello hardtail.
“Earlier than that, the previous few laps have been so nerve-racking. My gears weren’t working nicely. Within the final lap, they have been leaping up each climb, and I could not get in a rhythm. And Gaze was coming. And it was. I believed it may all go within the bin at any second.”
“It was irritating as a result of I could not go how I needed to, I needed to type of choose my gear and keep in it. I used to be being cautious. I checked out my bike now, it is not free. So I do not know what occurred.”
There was drama main as much as the race when the UCI in a single day altered the principles for the beginning grid, placing Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) on the road in thirty fourth, one place behind Pidcock. The change angered the seasoned mountain bike neighborhood, with a number of riders signing an open letter to the UCI in protest.
Van der Poel crashed out earlier than it may show to be a bonus, whereas Pidcock added his identify to these against the change. He raced and gained the World Cup in Nové Mesto in Could so as to get a greater beginning place for Worlds.
“It is bullshit,” he responded quickly when requested concerning the transfer. “It wasn’t for me, was it? They only added me so that somebody was proper in entrance of me. I feel it is fairly outrageous. If a rule like that must be put in place, it must be put in place on the primary of January. I sacrificed three weeks of preparation for the Tour to try to get some factors for the mountain bike race. After which this week, they modified the rule. And you’ll’t try this.”
Pidcock went into the Tour de France as certainly one of Ineos Grenadiers’ general hopefuls however, not like in 2022, he did not come away with a stage win however confirmed promise with a strong end in thirteenth general behind Jonas Vingegaard.
He shifted his focus instantly following the Tour to organize for the MTB race, skipping out on a highway race Worlds course that might have suited him nicely.
“It is troublesome coming from the Tour and conserving centered for an occasion like this, the place it is utterly completely different. Mentally it is fairly arduous. Although I really like driving my mountain bike, and it is fulfilling.”
Now with a second elite world title after his 2022 victory within the UCI Cyclocross World Championships, he’ll debut the jersey on the World Cup in Andorra on the finish of August after which Snowshoe and Mont Sainte-Anne in late September.