“We have not yet seen the best of him” – Tom Pidcock’s coach explains why the Olympic gold medallist has not lived up to expectations

Tom Pidcock’s future with the INEOS Grenadiers has been one of the most talked about topics of the off season, but recently rumours of his departure have cooled as he appears more content with the situation at the British team. Pidcock himself recently admitted that he has not lived up to expectations on the road since his win on Alpe d’Huez at the 2022 Tour de France. Now his coach, Kurt Bogaerts, has spoken with Cyclingnews about what the man from Leeds can accomplish in his career.

“The next two seasons are crucial for Tom, to discover his limits on the road and see how far he can go,” he said. “He can score in the classics and the grand tours and mentally he will have more space for that, with the four-year Olympic cycle.”

So does that mean Pidcock won’t have a busy cyclocross or mountain biking calendar next year?

“Tom has said he wants to do the best he can on the road, so if he goes off-road, it will be in function of the road,” Bogaerts explained, and he believes this why Pidcock has not lived up to expectations on the road so far. "We can be honest that Tom has never had an ideal preparation for the road season, so we do not know his limits.

“I think he can be very, very good and he is only 25 years old”, he says. “Tom does not win as much as Pogacar, but he already has some nice victories on and off the road. I think many riders his age would like to win what Tom has already won.

“We have not yet seen the best of him in the Grand Tours, there too we want to see what is possible with ultimate preparation.”