"That doesn’t help me make a comeback" - Tom Pidcock doesn't find his cyclocross return likely without an Olympic carrot
Cyclocross
Joining Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team seems to have been the turning point in Tom Pidcock's career. Not much has changed on the outside, but the new environment allowed the Briton to grab full leadership on which he delivered in a way we have not seen through his four years at INEOS Grenadiers.
Pidcock almost immedaitely spread his wings and had the best season of his career in 2025, including a Vuelta a Espana podium. And this spring, Pidcock nearly upset Tadej Pogacar at Milano-Sanremo. In the meantime, Pidcock also claimed his second mountain bike world title in cross-country.
And mountain bikes are not the only off-road discipline Pidcock excels at. In fact, he's the only rider other than Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert to have become cyclocross world champion since 2015. Even if his 2022 title comes with the caveat that neither of the two riders mentioned above participated that year.
Pidcock-less cyclocross
But since then, Pidcock's cyclocross appearances have become very scarce. In the following two seasons, he only participated in 14 and 8 races respectively, concluding both campaigns already at the Benidorm World Cup, opting to prioritize road season preparation. And since 2023/24 winter, Pidcock is yet to return to cyclocross.
However, as it appears, the Briton has not much of an interest in expanding his racing schedule deep into the winter neither this year, nor in the coming seasons.
"It is indeed still a bit early for that question. But no, I don’t think I’ll be racing cyclocross this winter," Pidcock tells WielerFlits. "At the end of the 2025 road season, it seemed nice to race again. But after I had ridden my last road race, I thought: 'Nah, maybe not. It’s just too much.'"
Read also
What could changed Pidcock's mind? If the discipline were to make its appearance at the Winter Olympic Games... At one point it seemed as though things were progressing well in the direction of a 2030 debut, but things did not pan out and thus, Pidcock prefers to stick to just road and mountain bike for the time being...
"I’m not going to say 'no' to that. But currently, things don’t look good for cyclocross at the Olympics, do they? Personally, that certainly doesn’t help me make a comeback in racing. If cyclocross gets a spot at the Games, then I do think I will race again," the Briton concludes.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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