"I also want to take steps forward as a Tour rider" - Stage wins and possible GC tilt in mind for Tom Pidcock at Tour de France

Tom Pidcock is a rider with such immense talent that it becomes difficult to make choices on which races to focus on throughout the entire year. Becoming a Grand Tour contender has always seemed to be very difficult to prepare towards, however the Briton is having that idea in mind ahead of the Tour de France.

“The first two stages are important for me. I want to win a stage, but not from the break like last summer in the Alps, but from the group with the big names," Pidcock told Het Nieuwsblad. "Winning a stage remains the priority, but I also want to take steps forward as a Tour rider. If you win from the group competing for the leaderboard, you will automatically stay high in the classification. Given my profile, I want to take a step forward in the mountains.”

Pidcock, who excels in mountain biking and cyclocross, has the profile of a classics rider on the road, having achieved plenty quality results. As an under-23 rider however he also used to perform quite well in the high mountains, and last year at the Tour de France he won the stage to Alpe d'Huez which must fuel this objective of testing himself in a new field. As INEOS enters the Tour with a few cards but no certain leader, he will get the freedom to test his limits as well.

His form at the Tour de Suisse was not promising regarding this goal as he did not perform in the mountains, but that doesn't make him the only high-level rider coming into the Tour after a modest performance in the preparation races. “I came straight from an altitude training at my home in Andorra. I never did that before. I didn't know what my level was. Still, I think I'm in good shape," he concluded.