Tom Pidcock the man to beat at Mountain Bike World Championships: "If nothing goes wrong, I should win"

Tom Pidcock has been away from the road but in the spotlight over the last week, as he's turned his focus to the mountain bike where he's been achieving strong results and aiming for a second rainbow jersey.

In an interview with PA, Pidcock said: “I’m the favourite to win. If nothing goes wrong, I should win. But I need to make sure nothing goes wrong.” A winner of both Albstadt and Nove Mesto World Cup races - the two he's participated in - and the recent European championships, Pidcock has set himself up as the man to beat at Les Gets thhis weekend.

“I don’t think about it but I guess it would be a disappointment if I didn’t win. The thing I’ve got used to is only being able to meet expectations. I’ve had to change my mindset going into elite races because I can’t take winning for granted," he said. However his recent success, besides last year's Olympic gold, have him in a level above the competition.

“In the Olympics if you win a gold medal it doesn’t matter if you’re the world champion at dominoes – you win a gold medal and everybody cares so in that sense it’s bigger," Pidcock added. "But then the most iconic thing in cycling is the world champions’ jersey. The world championships is the race that motivates me the most".

That is what Pidcock will be aiming for this weekend. He's taken the title on the Cyclocross World championships this year, and is a legitimate candidate for the road title at Wollongong aswell.

“The world championships has always been the biggest thing to me, the rainbow jersey” he said. “Every year the best rider on the day wins the world champions’ jersey. That has been the main thing that has inspired me in cycling," he concluded.