"The two stand-outs are Del Toro and Seixas" - Tom Pidcock knows who to look at during Montréal World Championships
CyclingFriday, 25 September 2026 at 11:55
Tom Pidcock enters the Montréal World Championships fresh off an altitude camp in Colorado, and aims to take the rainbow jersey on the road - just under a month after doing so in Mountain Biking. He has discussed tactics, his main rivals, and the presence of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert.
Pidcock competed at the GP de Montréal just under two weeks ago, finishing sixth against a field of similar names as the one he will find this Sunday. The two races have slightly different features however.
"I think it will be better. Sixteen [laps] was a lot; it made it really hard, but not in a way that makes the racing better," Pidcock said in a press conference, as reported by Cyclingnews.
"I think at first I thought, because the race is longer, it's not going to be as explosive in the final, but actually I think it will be. Perhaps more people will have more explosivity in the final because we're only doing 12 laps."
The extra 60 kilometers might play a role in making the end of the race more difficult potentially, even if the race's first 100 kilometers are flat. The distance aspect will weight more than at the GP de Montréal, where two riders stood out well above the rest. "I think the two stand-out guys are Seixas and Del Toro," Pidcock entails.
"I think Remco will for sure be good, and he's always the guy that, like you saw in [the GP de] Montreal, I don't know what happened, but he got dropped on the climb, and then he came back because he can keep going. That will definitely be in his favour. But I think the two stand-outs are Del Toro and Seixas. I think they're the guys who can make the difference on the climb more than the rest of us."
Tom Pidcock aims for victory at the World Championships
Pidcock on van der Poel and Van Aert
Two more of Pidcock's rivals will be Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert, riders not perfectly adapted to the more climber-like nature of this course, who may prove to be absolute wildcards.
"He's not a guy that bullshits," Pidcock said of van der Poel. "If it suits him, he says it, and if it doesn't, he also says it, and I agree with him. But for sure, he's not going to travel all the way here to Canada to not try. So he will be at the front; I don't know how far to the front."
Meanwhile Van Aert is on the same page as van der Poel, having the form, but not being a guarantee to fight for victory due to the amount of steady climbing that is expected during the race.
"The amount of climbing, you can't hide from that. I think it's not their perfect course, but they will still do well, I have no doubt about that."
How to make the difference in Montréal
Pidcock leads the British team alongside Oscar Onley and former GP de Montréal winner Adam Yates, providing the team with firm chances of taking either a win or a medal. He thought back of the GP de Montréal, and what he has learned from that race.
"I didn't ride so conservatively, and I think it's a course that favours saving for one big move," he tells. "If you ride it attritionally and make efforts all the time, then I think in the end it's difficult to then make the proper difference to get people off your wheel."
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"You quickly come back when you start tiring. So it doesn't favour [a long attack] so much, but undoubtedly that's how it will be raced. But that definitely favours teams like us, like the USA. I think the USA probably have the most depth of any team," he adds.
Pidcock on his part feels the good form, despite having been on his best legs for several weeks already having prepared for the MTB World Championships. His time spent at altitude provided him with very positive feedback:
"I've felt really good these last few weeks, actually, even being at training altitude. I did some VAM efforts at 2,500 meters for the first time ever, and I actually managed to do them, so that must be quite a good thing. I feel really, really good, to be honest. But yeah, one-day races, you can get it wrong, even if you feel good leading into it."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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