Cycling
At just 20 years old, Pidcock has already placed second in the elites at the cyclo-cross worlds. Here he talks about his first elite CX season and how his racing plans extend beyond 'cross courses.
Tom Pidcock is one of world’s most promising bike racers. Fresh from completing his first season on the Telnet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup as an elite rider, the British pro-cyclist finished second in his elite debut at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Switzerland.
“My goals for Worlds? I‘ll be happy with top-five, but I want to be on the podium,” he said ahead of the Worlds competition in Dübendorf. In a race dominated by reigning champion Mathieu van der Poel, Pidcock was happy with his silver medal.
You can relive that moment here:
This season has been a different experience for the 20-year-old Yorkshireman. He had become so used to winning everything he entered at junior and then U23 level, that stepping up into an elite field – where he's not been able to simply leave his competitors in the dust (or mud) – has led to something of an attitude adjustment.
Now I have to try and fight for places that aren’t the win. That’s something I was never very good at – if I’m not going to win, then I don’t care
“I have to set different goals that wouldn’t necessarily mean much to people who are watching on the outside,” he explains. “I’m used to my goal being, ‘win the race’, and that’s what everyone cares about. Now I have to try and fight for places that aren’t the win. That’s something I was never very good at – if I’m not going to win, then I don’t care.”
Formative steps
He didn’t always win, of course. His earliest memory of cycling suggests a not-quite-instant affinity with the machine that has become the tool of his trade.
When I was little I couldn’t keep my feet on the pedals, so my parents tied my feet to them to stop me from lifting them off
“I don’t know if this a real memory or if it’s one that’s been put in my head from people telling me the story, but when I used to ride a bike when I was little I couldn’t keep my feet on the pedals, so my parents tied my feet to them to stop me from lifting them off.”
Everyone has to start somewhere. Indeed, for Pidcock, who is from Leeds in the north of England, a career in cycling wasn't something he really considered as a youngster. He was always happiest when on his bike, though.
“I think the happiness came before the winning. When I was younger, basically all my friends were cyclists and club rides and British Go Ride! events were the times I got to see them. It was my favourite time, just riding my bike. Gradually it turned from what I loved to do into, sort of, a job.”
A glittering start
Some ‘job’. While most teenagers’ Saturday jobs involve boring hours in retail, or lugging a sack of newspapers around their neighbourhood on icy mornings, Pidcock was instead doing battle with some of the world’s most talented young cyclo-cross riders, constantly crossing back and forth across the English Channel to compete in junior races in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
He was good at it, too. He won the Junior World Championships in 2017 aged 18, as well as the British Junior National Championship. The following year he repeated the feat, becoming domestic champion again, but this time in the under-23 category. In 2019, he pulled on the rainbow bands once more as under-23 world champion. And of course in 2020, in his first ride at a senior World Championships, he nabbed a silver medal. These are just his 'cross results.
In his late teens, when not dominating during the cyclo-cross season, Pidcock was also busy ferociously gobbling up prizes on the road, taking Paris–Roubaix titles in the junior and espoirs [under-23] categories, plus another rainbow jersey for the time trial at the 2017 Road World Championships. He's also interested in cross-country mountain biking and last year won the U23 category at the British nationals.
He knew he had a shot at a career before all that, though.
“I think it probably started when I began winning the Yorkshire races when I was under-12. Everyone else was just bigger than me, stronger than me, but I realised I could still win if I got into the last corner first. I think that’s where I learned how to win bike races.”
A tough step up
Does anything about the experience of competing against bigger, stronger lads ring familiar at what's almost the end of his first elite men’s season?
“Yeah, story of my life. It was a tough step up, even though I did a lot of elite races last year while riding as an under-23. Firstly, this year the level in general has really gone up.
“It’s hard because I’ve only won one race this season and that’s the National Champs. I’m not used to not winning races. That's quite difficult. To learn to fight for places and not just to win.”
That’s not to say that the 2019-20 ‘cross season has been a disappointment, though. The Worlds silver is obviously the jewel in the crown but Pidcock has also placed in the top-10 in four of the five UCI World Cup races he’s entered, which included just missing out on the podium when he finished fourth at round six in Namur, Belgium.
This ability to mix it with the best in the world in his debut elite season and his achievements on the road are what make the 20-year-old such an exciting prospect.
WorldTour? Why rush?
Overtures from road cycling's WorldTour teams have been well-publicised, with several of the world’s best road racing teams rumoured to be keenly interested in Pidcock’s progress. He's always remained steadfast, however, that the WorldTour can wait.
“It’s not something I’m in a rush to do. I’m enjoying what I’m doing, there’s nothing I need there that I haven’t got here. Someone else put it like this: ‘going to WorldTour is like going to sixth form with adults who’ve got kids and stuff’. It’s a completely different grown-up environment.”
Pidcock is already enough of a marquee name to command invites for him and his team to certain major races of the season, even without the backing of a WorldTour team. He has his sights on Tour de Yorkshire already, as well as the Tour of Britain, but he also has a date with the Cape Epic mountain bike race in South Africa in early March and September’s individual time trial and road race at the Road World Championships in Switzerland – plus a couple of key under-23 road races.
“I want to do well at the Baby Giro and also I think the Tour de l’Avenir [essentially an under-23 Tour de France]. That’s not definite, but I want to add it in after crashing out last year.
“I’ve got a lot of goals for 2020,” he adds, somewhat superfluously.
Could he be British cycling's next big thing?
Pidcock is young, and he has the hunger that comes with youth. He seems to want to try and win everything he can, and to do so as fast as possible. This ferocious hunger seems almost at odds with his reticence to make the final jump up to WorldTour racing.
If I’m not feeling confident, being compared to Wiggins, Froome and Thomas is a bit like, ‘bloody hell, that’s a tall order!’ but if I'm feeling confident, it’s more ‘well, sure’
Does he ever feel the pressure of comparison to some of his country’s greatest stars? Pidcock is often heralded as the new Froome, the new Wiggins, the new Thomas, but is that ever too much to bear?
“It depends on the day. If I’m not feeling confident it’s a bit like, ‘bloody hell, that’s a tall order!’ but if I am feeling confident, it’s more ‘well, sure’.”
And if he had to choose just one discipline to focus on?
“I think probably road. I’ve not done enough mountain bike yet to know. It’s road over ‘cross at the moment, but I think that’s partly because I’ve been getting a bit of a kicking in the ‘cross season!”
I race against Mathieu van der Poel now and play Fortnite with him, but he’s still my idol because he was world champion when I was junior
And a dream team-mate?
“Julian Alaphilippe [the Frenchman who set the Tour de France alight in 2019] would be a pretty cool rider to ride with. Or [reigning cyclo-cross World Champion] Mathieu van der Poel. I know him a bit, but it’d be pretty cool to be on a team with him. Because, yeah, I race against him now and play Fortnite with him, but he’s still my idol because he was world champion when I was a junior. I think they’re probably the two.”
Just the thought of those three on the same team send shivers up the spine. But even if this dream team doesn't come to fruition, you can expect Pidcock to be mixing it with some of cycling's biggest stars for many years to come.
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