21/01/2024

"I am not really happy if I just show up somewhere and participate" - Tom Pidcock aims for result in Benidorm as he closes cyclocross season

Tom Pidcock ends his cyclocross season today in Benidorm. The INEOS Grenadiers rider has been training in Spain and will now take part in the Spanish cyclocross World Cup race, where he hopes to perform against the very best.

“Do I need this effort towards the road season? Yes, I'm here anyway. Then I might as well join in. The atmosphere here is fantastic," Pidcock admitted in an interview with Wielerflits. “I had a good time during training on Saturday. I can't expect too much. What I have learned this winter is that I am not really happy if I just show up somewhere and participate. I am competitive. I can't pretend I don't care. That doesn't help me, to be honest."

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Pidcock had a difficult season. Although he started with seemingly good form and had a stupendous performance and win in Namur, he then fell sick. A few other performances were still noteworthy, but as he approached the end of 2023 his form had clearly taken a hit, and he ended up scraping a few races off his initial plan.

“That was after the December camp. Over the Christmas period I recovered, but I didn't feel like myself. I took some time for myself, which was a relief. I fought a fight I couldn't win," the Briton admits. "I couldn't push wattages. During blocks we normally do fifty or sixty kilometers per hour, now forty.”

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Pidcock hence turned his attention onto the road season, he will hope to perform throughout the spring where he will have plenty races on the schedule. Then, the Tour de France and the Olympic Games. In the meantime his health is better but he does find it unusual what he went through, throughout the past month.

“A lot of people I talked to have had something similar. No one was really super sick, but she felt weak on the bike. Maybe it was a certain Covid variant or something," he wonders. "I do not know. Now I feel good again, here in the sun. That makes everything better. I'm not in great shape yet. The course is slightly easier than last year. It's beautiful and different. I like that.”