New Start for Tom Pidcock as CX Season Ends

A new month, and a new step forward for Tom Pidcock as from today, the Yorkshire rider is part of the road team at Ineos Grenadiers with the spring classics first up

New Start for Tom Pidcock as CX Season Ends

A new month, and a new step forward for Tom Pidcock as from today, the Yorkshire rider is part of the road team at Ineos Grenadiers with the spring classics first up.

De Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Feb 27) is his first appointment on the cycling calendar. A day after his fourth place at the World Championship cyclocross in Ostend, Tom Pidcock has already switched the button. From now on everything will be dominated by the road season, his first as a professional cyclist at WorldTour level.

“I have had a successful year and I am confident for the road season,” said Pidcock in Sporza’s studio after the World Cup. “I now return home and start training for the road season immediately.” With Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, he already knows his first challenge on the calendar. Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and the Strade Bianche are also be on his program. Participation in the Vuelta is also a likely option.

“It feels like the first phase in my career has ended and I am ready for the second phase as a professional cyclist”, Pidcock concluded.

At the World Cyclocross Championships for Elite Men, Tom Pidcock pushed Toon Aerts to the limit in the battle for the bronze, but came up short, just. The British rider eventually had to settle for fourth place, more than a minute and a half behind the winner. “I felt good today. Some laps were good, some shit. I came close to Toon Aerts, but unfortunately not close enough ”, Pidcock laughed afterwards at Sporza.

“In the end I can say that I rode a good race. Only a few passages in the sand were less so but that does not suit us Brits, after all. ”

Could there have been more for Pidcock today? “I certainly could have been on the podium, so in that area it is a big disappointment. But in the end… Within four or five years, no one will know who was third, so it’s not that bad now. Overall, I can look back on my year of cross with satisfaction,” said the winner of the Superprestige cross in Gavere. “This gives me confidence for the road season. I think I will be even stronger next season. Wout and Mathieu are four to five years older than me, so I have a little more time to grow. Hopefully I can really put them to the test next year. ”