"He’s going to win some big bike races, he’s knows what he’s doing” - Pidcock has high hopes for his childhood friend Samuel Watson

Samuel Watson has recently signed with Groupama-FDJ along with seven other riders who will race in the WordTour team from next year. Tom Pidcock congratulated Watson on his success while sharing some behind the scenes about him.

Watson and Pidcock go back a long way, even before Watson turned professional. Watson credits Pidcock for introducing him to professional cycling. “I’ve always been attracted to anything with wheels, I rode my bike to school, and then I discovered cycling through the Pidcock family. All I knew was that I wanted to do it for a living,” Watson to cyclingweekly.

Tom Pidcock’s brother Joe who currently rides for Groupama-FDJ's development squad with Watson, is a childhood friend of Watson. Pidcock says he always knew Watson had talent, so it's not surprising that he already made it to the WorldTour team. “I remember he would come along with us to races, and he was always able to look and learn from people and never need to be told anything much better than my brother,” Pidcock told Cyclingweekly.

He continues, “With the talent he has, it’s not a surprise he’s so successful now. I was actually really proud to see him perform well at the Nationals, it was really nice to see. He’s going to win some big bike races, he’s switched on and knows what he’s doing.”

In March, Watson won the under-23 edition of Gent-Wevelgem. In June, he was crowned under-23 British national road champion.