Tom Pidcock: ‘I want to prove myself’-confirms 2024 Tour de France GC ambitions
The British cyclist reaffirms his decision not to participate in the Cyclocross World Championships in February.
Before making his season debut at the Herentals event in the 2023-24 cyclocross season, Tom Pidcock expressed his intention to shift his full attention to competing for the general classification at the Tour de France next summer.
The British cyclist plans to participate in a limited cyclocross campaign during the winter, engaging in 10 races from the X2O Trofee event in Herentals to the UCI World Cup in Benidorm in late January. Similar to Wout van Aert, Pidcock aims to conclude his cyclocross season early to concentrate on the upcoming road season, with the Volta ao Algarve likely marking the start.
In an interview with Sporza before inspecting the Herentals circuit, Pidcock emphasized his desire to “prove himself” at the Tour de France, where he previously secured a victory on L’Alpe d’Huez and achieved 16th- and 13th-place finishes in his two prior participations.
“I want to prove myself in the Tour de France,” Pidcock said before heading out to recon the course of the season’s third X2O Trofee round. “Last year I didn’t know what I wanted and with the team, I didn’t have the clear goal of why I was there. I paid the price for that and I came away with nothing.”
“This year I’m going to fully focus on the general classification. Then hopefully I come away from the Tour very well for the Olympics.”
In 2023, Pidcock accomplished victories in Strade Bianche, the penultimate stage of the Volta ao Algarve, and secured the mountain bike cross-country world title. However, the British cyclist has not established a precise general classification (GC) objective for the Tour de France. Pidcock mentioned that a clearer understanding of his GC aspirations would emerge as he embarks on his stage racing campaign.
“For me, top 10 isn’t really a motivation,” he said. “My goal will become clearer after a few stage races earlier in the year. I believe in myself more than I did last year for a good result, but I will wait to answer specifically later.”
Pidcock has affirmed that he won’t prolong his cyclocross season into February to participate in the UCI World Championships in Tabor. Following the lead of Wout van Aert, the 2022 world champion has opted to skip the event. In contrast, Mathieu van der Poel, commencing his season on Saturday, intends to pursue an eighth world title and engage in a more comprehensive racing campaign leading up to the championships.
“It will be a long summer with the Tour de France and the Olympics. It will be difficult to race so late in the year with the cyclocross World Championships,” Pidcock said.
“If I go to the World Championships, I have to prepare 100% – for the respect for the event. I don’t want to go through that, mentally it’s difficult.”
“Wout lost last year and said that was difficult for him during the road season. So, I want to enjoy the Christmas period and prepare for the road season.”
