Pinarello has opened a new store in the centre of Zurich’s old town and on Friday morning, Tom Pidcock stands in the very centre of it, surrounded by polished frames and shiny wheels. He’s struggled to get there through crowds of people clamouring for signatures and taking selfies, but is being both friendly and amenable at his bike sponsor’s big event. Although the 2024 Road World Championships are just two days away, Pidcock appears more relaxed than ever.
His calm openness to being asked questions by journalists who have attended the event is a stark contrast to the sometimes blunt and spiky version of Pidcock who we’ve spoken to before other key races. As he carefully forms his answers about his expectations for the 273 kilometre race on Sunday, it becomes clear that he doesn’t actually have many. This year, against the likes of two-time Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel and Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar – and when considering his own preparation for the event – Pidcock, for a change, is not really considered as a favourite.
“Remco has already stated how much of a big goal this is for him so when he says that, you know he means business,” Pidcock states. “If you stake your claim like that, you need to be good.”
“For me, I've missed the last two road Worlds and then this year it hasn’t really been the preparation that we'd imagined. After the Olympics [where he won gold in the mountain bike race] we didn't really plan the rest of the year,” the British rider explains. “We just said we’d see after the Olympics. At the Tour of Britain I was coming quite good in the end but I crashed and got a concussion and had to try and recover from that. I haven’t really had the time I’ve needed but freshness is quite important at the end of the year and you don’t need to be one hundred percent to win the Worlds, it can be a bit of a lottery sometimes.”
Pidcock wins 2024 Amstel Gold Race (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix)
Although he has had a formidable season when looking across multiple disciplines, Pidcock’s sole victory on the road this year was at Amstel Gold Race in April. He came close to a stage win in the Tour de France, finishing in second place behind Anthony Turgis on the gravel around Troyes, but otherwise has had a relatively quiet year by his standards (and by the ones set by riders like Evenepoel). Pidcock argues that this means the Great Britain team will have more freedom to race aggressively this weekend, however.
“I think we’ll just see how it goes and get stuck in racing,” Pidcock says. “There's a lot of climbing metres, but the race is long and in Switzerland, the roads are quite fast, so it could come to a bunch. It’s maybe easier than it looks on paper. This race is a goal of mine, I’m not sure if this year is going to be the year but every Worlds is an experience and a chance to learn. The tactic is to be aggressive and get ahead of the race, that’s the best way to play it with the team we’ve got.”
Pidcock also added that the challenging and technical nature of the World Championships can often favour riders with superior technical skills, something that he has been able to develop through riding off-road disciplines over the years.
“If you can learn the course well, a bit like a cross race or a mountain bike race, you know where to move up, where to save energy and that can save you a lot,” he says.
It’s clear that Pidcock has been as impressed with the performances of riders like Evenepoel this season as the rest of the cycling world. Should the Belgian rider take a rainbow jersey in the road race this weekend, it will round out a history-making season for Evenepoel with two Olympic golds and two rainbow jerseys.
“He's had an incredible year, to be honest. First of all, the third in his first Tour, that was probably his most impressive achievement this year. I think a lot of people doubted what he could do in the high mountains,” Pidcock reflects. “He was so consistent even after crashing in the Basque Country and he played it smart at the Dauphiné and didn't go beyond his limit, and he just kept building. Then to continue like that and win three gold medals…”
There’s a wistful tone in the 25-year-old’s voice as he rattles through Evenepoel’s breathtaking palmarès. While Pidcock has plenty of incredible achievements on the road himself, it’s fair to say that this year has seen his focus divided with the Olympic mountain bike race, meaning fewer race days and fewer wins. It has also been a turbulent time for the Ineos Grenadiers, Pidcock’s trade team, with murmurings of unrest and disagreements within the squad.
However, the Briton will start at the World Championships with a strong GB team alongside him and is known to perform when it really matters. Even if he isn’t a stand-out favourite, Pidcock should never be truly counted out, and a lack of expectation could be exactly what he needs to make the difference.
“Of course I'm comparing myself to those guys [Evenepoel and Pogačar]. I want to be able to compete,” Pidcock states. “I'm not quite there yet, but that's where I want to be.”
