"I am going to decide what I want my Tour to be this year. Nobody else" - Tom Pidcock keeps his Tour de France goals to himself

Tom Pidcock will not let anyone else tell him what a successful Tour de France will look like this summer. The Olympic mountain bike champion aims to one day win the Tour, but not right now, as the Ineos Grenadiers rider chases multiple goals in other disciplines (mountain bike and cyclocross) as well as in one-day races.

Pidcock’s stage win on the Alpe d’Huez defined his Tour debut in 2022, but last year went somewhat under the radar with 13th overall. What will it be this time? "I am going to decide what I want my Tour to be this year," Pidcock told the PA news agency. "Nobody else. Otherwise you don’t get anything from me. I need to be able to believe in my mission at the Tour."

"I completely understand where I want to be and what I need to do to achieve it. It’s not always simple but the people in my corner, they know how I work."

Long-time leaders and captains of the Brittish team are slowly calling it quits, can a change be felt within the team? "I think the team is going through a big transition period," Pidcock said. "And you do notice that... It’s strange that some of these guys are soon not going to be here anymore. That is weird... It’s nice to have their experience. But I’ve realised I need to gain that experience in their outlook on things and not just leave it to other people."

It means Pidcock will need to take on more of a leadership role, but he will do it his own way. "I’m not used to taking the lead," he said. "I don’t like to kind of lead from a forward position. I kind of like to lead from the back, if you like, to be a bit more quiet, just getting on with my own thing."