"The pathway that Van der Poel, Pidcock & Van Aert are making is definitely cool" - One of Britain's biggest prospects keen to balance multi-discipline goals going forward

One of the brightest prospects in British cycling, Joseph Blackmore has already been making waves on the road in 2024, winning the Tour de l'Avenir and finishing 5th overall at the Tour of Britain. Although a big future seemingly awaits on the road, the 21-year-old isn't ready to completely focus on the discipline just yet.

"The pathway that Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock and Wout van Aert are making with multi-discipline is definitely cool," the Israel - Premier Tech prospect explains to Cycling Weekly, expressing a desire to balance his road aims with a continued focus on mountain bike and cyclocross going forward. "If I can get that balance where I'm also doing well on the mountain bike, then obviously I'd enjoy it. Ultimately I want to race at the front and do best in whatever discipline that is. At the moment, that’s road."

And with Israel - Premier Tech, Blackmore is confident he is in a good team to successfully develop as a multi-discipline rider. "It's just a really good environment and they've made me feel like I can go to the right races, and mix a few off-road races as well," he says. "I feel like it was the right step, after the races I'd done the year before. I think it (road ed.) probably just suits me more, maybe it's my body type. I have done a few mountain bike races this year. Obviously I'm in good form, but it's hard to transfer it back to the mountain bike."

As mentioned though, there are big hopes within British Cycling for Blackmore and with his Tour de l'Avenir victory, he's shown potential Grand Tour winning capabilities in the future. If this is the road he eventually wants to go down, Blackmore also has one of the best mentor-type figures to learn from at Israel - Premier Tech, in the form of seven-time Grand Tour winner Chris Froome.

"As a young child I wasn't racing as much road, but when [Froome] was winning the Tour, that was really cool," Blackmore says. "To be on the start line of some of the biggest races in the world will be pretty cool. I'm excited for it."