"They complement each other" - Tom Pidcock adds extra mountain bike race just week before Tour de France

Tom Pidcock is seen by the INEOS Grenadiers as a potential long term answer to their search for a new Grand Tour challenger. Ahead of his return to the Tour de France later this summer however, the Brit will continue his multi discipline riding with an added Mountain Bike race.

"I'm also doing Crans Montana, the week before the Tour," Pidcock reveals in conversation with Cycling Weekly. "I don't train on my mountain bike as much as I should, but road and mountain bike are quite interchangeable. Of course now, this time of year, I'm doing longer efforts, in preparation for the Tour, more volume. But they all complement each other."

Last time out on the mountain bike, Pidcock took a very impressed victory in Nove Mesto and, managing to tie it into his Tour de France preparations, then embarked on a monster ride from Barcelona Airport to back home in Andorra.

"Love a good adventure," the 24-year-old said of the epic, 230km, including more than 4,000 metres of elevation, back home. "I rode home from Barcelona airport [after Nové Město], it was almost eight hours. It's sort of a tradition every spring when I've done some mountain bike I always do a long ride after. It's just enjoyable, and an easy way to get in some training. You can just go and explore, you know. On a bike you can visit places that you would never ever go in a car."

At the upcoming Tour de France, Pidcock will once again share leadership duties. As shown off in the latest trailer for the new season of Tour de France: Unchained, things weren't all smooth sailing for the pair last year. Both riders and the team will surely be hoping for a better relationship this time around and maybe even an improvement on Rodriguez's top 5 finish at the 2023 edition of the Tour de France.