Tom Pidcock returns to mountain biking ahead of Tour de France

Tom Pidcock has in the past been World and Olympic Champion on the mountain bike and although we do not know yet his full ambitions for the summer, he returns to the discipline where he has been very successful this upcoming weekend in search of wins.

However even though the Briton is focusing on the overall classification at the Tour de France, this does not mean he will not race the MTB Olympics race aiming for a win. In 2021, he raced Albstadt and Nové Mesto in May, and only did one more MTB event before winning the Olympics in Tokyo. Nové Mesto, due to it's mid-May schedule, falls perfectly into Pidcock's plans every year. In 2022 he won the XCO race and his next, three months later at the European Championships, also resulted in a victory.

Last year he only raced Nové Mesto in May but won both short track and XCO races, before going on to - three months later, without any other MTB race in the calendar - become XCO World Champion. The INEOS Grenadiers rider has incredibly talent in the discipline and is able to rival the seasoned pros who race all year long in the discipline.

With the Olympics in sight, he raced a few more events late last year, to gather UCI points for better positioning but also to keep the competitive edge. This year he raced a smaller-category event in Spain back in February which he won, but he takes up the serious preparation now. Picock will return to Nové Mesto where he has been happy many times.

He is expected to be one of the main favourites in the races that will not include reigning European Champion Vlad Dascalu who has been suspended this week for having missed doping tests. Pidcock last raced in the Ardennes where he finished 10th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He will most likely take on an altitude camp in June ahead of the Tour de France but will likely not race either Criterium du Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse.