Tom Pidcock reluctant to go all-in on Ineos Grenadiers' Tour de France quest

The 24-year-old from Leeds is one of the most versatile, explosive and successful riders of his generation, winning Olympic and world titles on his mountain bike as well as a rainbow jersey in cyclo-cross.

But he is also seen as the heir apparent to Ineos Grenadiers’ long line of homegrown Tour de France winners dating back to Sir Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas.

He took a famous stage win on Alpe d’Huez on his debut in 2022 and finished 13th on the general classification last year, although midway through the race he admitted he was bored of concentrating on the fight for top-10.

This natural-born winner has been targeting a mountain bike and road race double at next year’s Paris Olympics, and talking to the Red Bull Just Ride podcast recently, he remains determined to enjoy multiple disciplines for as long as he can.

“Maybe I need to specialise in one discipline if I want to win the Tour, but I know that you’ll get the best out of me when I’m happy and when I’m enjoying it,” said Pidcock. “Which is why I love other disciplines…

“Of course I want to win the Tour de France one day but the patience and preparation is massive.

“There is the element (of pressure from the team) and I knew that when I committed long term to the team. I also want it, but in my own way. I want to achieve all the things I believe I can achieve.

“Right now, I’m not ready to win the Tour de France next year yet. There has to be more steps where I achieve things in different disciplines and achieving them makes me a better rider.”

Pidcock was speaking after the Mountain Bike World Cup event in Mont-Sainte-Anne, where he won the cross-country race to continue preparations for his Olympic title defence next summer.

Ineos have found themselves left behind at the world’s biggest race in recent years as UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma have come to the fore. They need a leader to challenge Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar who have won the last four Tours between them.

But Pidcock – who won the cross-country race at the Mountain Bike World Cup event in Mont-Sainte-Anne - remains reluctant about going all-in to challenge for yellow.

He added: “Compared to when I won the Olympics where you’re on the front of all the newspapers back home and people want interviews and chats that you could live off for months. With the Tour, it never stops and you have to be ready to race again.”

Pidcock plans to ride the Tour again next summer, but has to balance that with his ambitions in both the mountain bike race and the road race at the Paris Olympics, which begin only eight days after the Tour finishes in Nice.

The tight schedule is behind his decision to keep chasing mountain bike qualification points late into the year.

“By doing these races at the end of the year now, it will mean I don’t have to do the mountain bike races in the spring which will allow me better prep for the Tour,” he said.

“Then I’ll hopefully come out of the end of that in a better condition to cope with the start of the Olympics.”

Additional reporting Ian Parker

Tom Pidcock is a Red Bull athlete. He was speaking on the latest Red Bull Just Ride podcast.