27/01/2024

"Chris Froome was 28 when he won his first Tour and Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas were even 32" - No rush for Tom Pidcock to focus solely on Grand Tours insists coach

For the INEOS Grenadiers, chances of winning a Grand Tour in the coming year look somewhat slim. As they look to get back to Tour de France winning contention, Tom Pidcock is often touted as their leading man of the future.

A former winner atop Alpe d'Huez, Pidcock can clearly climb and in his first general classification challenge last year the Brit took a competitive 13th overall. As his coach, Kurt Bogaerts points out in conversation with Het Nieuwsblad though, time is on Pidcock's side. "Chris Froome was 28 when he won his first Tour and Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas were even 32," the coach notes.

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A big question mark over Pidcock's Tour de France winning goals however are arguably his multi-discipline capabilities. Would Pidcock need to drop his cyclocross and mountain bike intentions and fully concentrate on Grand Tour riding? Bogaerts isn't so sure. "It will remain that way for a while. It fits in with the bigger picture to win the Tour," he insists.

"He has very few adjustment problems when he switches between cross, road and mountain bike. He will continue to race next winter too," continues Pidcock's coach. "He has become stronger physically and mentally. In modern cycling you are not really allowed to experiment anymore. Yet he does all those disciplines and is allowed to explore the areas."

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In 2024, the Tour de France is once again expected to be on Pidcock's calendar. What are the realistic goals for the Brit heading in though? "After Liège-Bastogne-Liège we will take stock. Tom also wants to extend his Olympic mountain bike title. In the Tour we hope he grows and improves and we hope he scores in the classics," says Bogaerts.

"There is a very well thought-out plan behind this that is logically connected, with rest periods. The explosiveness he trains in cyclocross can then become a weapon in lap work in the long term. Once in his strongest years, after the age of 26, he knows where he can score and how to go about it."