“I’m not thinking about cyclocross” - Tom Pidcock ready for rest after gravel world championships

Less than 24 hours after grinding through the 238 kilometres of Il Lombardia, Tom Pidcock was back on a start line, this time on the gravel roads of Limburg. The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team leader had finished fifth on Saturday in the final Monument of the season, then flew overnight to the Netherlands to race the Gravel World Championships the next morning. It was a typically audacious double from a rider who refuses to be confined by disciplines or expectations.

“I like trying different things, and Pinarello came out with a new gravel bike, so I thought it would be cool to ride one. The focus was on Lombardy, but it was great to be able to do this too,” Pidcock told In de Leiderstrui. The 26-year-old has built his career on curiosity and risk-taking, and his 2025 season, his first with Q36.5, has been the most complete yet. Third at the Vuelta a España marked his first Grand Tour podium, while his top-five at Lombardia underlined a growing command of long, selective races.

“My legs didn’t feel bad, I can’t complain about that,” he admitted after the gravel race. “It was fine, but did it have any impact? No idea. It was a completely different way of racing. At the beginning, it was all about positioning, but after that, everyone was in their place.”

The World Championships course, twisting through the Dutch countryside, offered little time for recovery or reflection. “It was chaos from the start. I didn’t know much about how the race worked, including the course,” he said candidly.

“But it was fun, well, fun, but tough. All in all, I enjoyed it and I’m glad I was there, even though it was painful. It was good fun.”

For Pidcock, who has juggled road, cyclocross, mountain bike and now gravel racing at the highest level, it was a fitting way to close an exhausting campaign. “I’m going on vacation, so I’m not thinking about cyclocross,” he smiled.