British three-time Olympic champion sees Tom Pidcock as "the best rider in the world" thanks to his uniquely versatile profile

Ed Clancy is Yorkshire's most decorated Olympian to this day with three Olympic gold medals from track. In addition he also won six World championship titles and five European titles. However he is well aware that he may be surpassed by the 25-year-old Tom Pidcock, who's already won the Olympic MTB twice and also aspires to succeed on road in the future. Finally, The rumoured inclusion of cyclocross at the Winter Olympic Games could only improve his chances of another gold medal.

Clancy doesn't hide the fact that he's a huge fan of Pidcock, putting him even above the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar: "Tom is the best rider in the world," he claimed at Yahoo. "Maybe I'm biased as a Yorkshireman, but his bike handling skills, tactical awareness, how he can climb, sprint, he can do Classics, Grand Tours, I think he's the best around."

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With victories in Tokyo 2021 and now in Paris, the young all-rounder is already only one triumph shy of Clancy's record. Albeit he's still got some work to do in terms of rainbow jerseys. "Tom is already way more successful than I was. He’s got two Olympic golds and he’s still in his mid-20s. If he wants to pursue that, he could stack up Olympic medals for the next two or three Games."

Clancy believes there's still a lot to achieve on the road. In his opinion, Pidcock's future lies in the one-day races, albeit he definitely doesn't want to lower his chances at a Grand Tour. And at the end of the day, he can always return to Mountain bike. "I don’t think anyone truly knows what his future is. He clearly has a gift for one-day classics so maybe he wants to lean into that. But it would be a shame if he ever left mountain biking behind as he’s so good at it. I like when people do multi-disciplines, I really do – even if he does replace me as Yorkshire’s greatest Olympian."

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