With MTB Rainbow Jersey secured, Tom Pidcock's Montreal masterplan takes shape as focus turns towards road World Championships
Cycling
Tom Pidcock's latest rainbow jersey will barely have time to settle on his shoulders before another World Championship campaign begins in earnest.
Fresh from winning the elite XCO title in Val di Sole, the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team leader is turning his attention back towards the road and a late-season block built around the 2026 Road World Championships in Montreal.
Pidcock will race again on Sunday, September 6 at the GP Industria & Artigianato in Italy before heading to Canada for the GP Quebec and GP Montreal. Rather than returning home afterwards, he is set to remain in Canada through to the World Championships later in September.
It gives the 27-year-old a compact run of road racing immediately after his MTB triumph, with the two Canadian WorldTour events providing his final competitive preparation before another attempt at the rainbow jersey.
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Pidcock heads to Canada with growing road credentials
Pidcock's 2026 road season has already strengthened his standing as a major contender across both one-day races and stage racing. He won Milano-Torino in March and came within one place of a first Monument at Milano-Sanremo, finishing second. He also won stages at the Vuelta a Andalucia and Tour of the Alps, took second at Eschborn-Frankfurt and added victory at the Andorra MoraBanc Classica.
His spring was interrupted by a heavy crash at the Volta a Catalunya, but he returned strongly enough to build towards another important step at the Tour de France.
Pidcock finished ninth overall in July, securing the first Tour top 10 of his career. That followed his breakthrough Grand Tour podium at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, where he finished third overall.
His road palmares already includes Strade Bianche, Amstel Gold Race and a Tour de France stage victory on Alpe d'Huez, while runner-up finishes at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Milano-Sanremo have taken him close to a first Monument. A road rainbow jersey remains another major prize still missing.
Pidcock now targets the road race Rainbow Jersey
Italy first as Montreal preparation begins
Pidcock's immediate return comes at the GP Industria & Artigianato, where he is due to lead Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team on a climbing-heavy course.
Chris Harper, Matteo Badilatti, Sjoerd Bax, Quinten Hermans, Nicolo Parisini and his brother Joseph Pidcock are expected to form the support around him, with Jan Christen, Antonio Tiberi, Romain Gregoire and Christian Scaroni among the notable opposition.
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From Italy, Pidcock moves directly into the Canadian block. GP Quebec comes first before GP Montreal provides his final WorldTour race ahead of the World Championships. Pidcock is then expected to remain in Canada rather than return to Europe before the rainbow jersey battle later in September.
The sequence comes only days after Pidcock produced another major off-road result in Val di Sole. Starting from the fifth row, he worked his way through the elite men's XCO field before eventually breaking clear of Charlie Aldridge to claim his second MTB world title.
He now switches disciplines with one rainbow jersey already secured for 2026 and another still available on the road in Montreal.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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