Tom Pidcock has his eyes set on both the Tour de France and defending his Olympic mountain bike cross-country title from Tokyo, despite there only being eight days between the end of the Tour and the XCO event at Paris 2024.
The multi-disciplinary Ineos Grenadiers star spoke to Red Bull's Just Ride podcast while in Canada for the final round of racing at the MTB World Cup, stating that the points gained in North America could aid his run into next year's Tour and the hectic summer schedule.
"Next year, I want to go and defend my title at the Olympics, but I also need as many points as I can get," said Pidcock. "But also I've got to balance that with the team, and they need me, want me at the Tour, so I have to be there and be my best at the Tour, and I have eight days between the end of the Tour and the Olympics.
"Doing these races now sets me up better for next year because I won't have to go to the mountain bike races in the spring.
"Hopefully I should come out of the Tour in a better condition, meaning that in eight days I can be ready. It's going to be on the limit, it's not going to be easy, but I'm giving myself the best chance."
Pidcock also reflected on his second Tour de France campaign, which wasn't quite as successful as his debut year in 2021 where he took a historic win atop L'Alpe d'Huez, again dropping out of GC contention after heatstroke on stage 14 and finishing 13th overall.
"During the Tour, I had too many goals with GC and trying to win a stage so I kind of came away with nothing," said Pidcock. "I learned a lot but it wasn't very enjoyable because I didn't feel like I got anything out of it I could show for."
Pidcock did have success in 2023 with a brilliant solo win at Strade Bianche where he got his road season off to a flying start, but subsequent crashes, saddle sores and a bout with concussion got in the way of his objectives in sprint and summer. But he was pleased with his overall progress and another year of learning in the WorldTour.
"I think I made a big step this year on the road general which is good and then I won MTB Worlds which was my biggest goal of the year actually," said Pidcock. "My characteristics are very much [suited to] the big championships like Worlds as I'm very good at peaking.
"Of course, I want to try and win the Tour de France one day but I think this is probably going to be the big job for me because the patience side of it is quite difficult."
Pidcock, talented across a number of disciplines and parcours, finds the ability to wait for the race-defining stages of the Grand Tours difficult, perhaps due to his natural propensity to race all out no matter what route is presented to him.
"I kind of get a bit impatient, if we have an easy day I'm like oh this is boring, when it's a flat sprint stage I just want to race, but actually you need to be patient and take that as a blessing which I need to get better at," Pidcock said.
The young Briton didn't rule out his chances of competing for the maillot jaune but stressed he's not quite there yet in terms of experience.
"When I know I can win something and I set my mind to it, it sounds stupid, but so far in my career I haven't failed, but I'm not ready to win the Tour de France next year yet," said Pidcock.
No time frames were set, however, with the 24-year-old still possibly having the best years of his career ahead of him and the young superstar winners only coming to the fore at Grand Tours in recent years.
"I don't know, to be honest. Time will tell," Pidcock said. "It's only recently that there are these outliers, when normally like Chris Froome was 30 and Geraint Thomas was 30-ish.
"But now, Tadej Pogačar won it at 21, Remco Evenepoel won the Vuelta when he was 22, and Jonas Vingegaard is 26. They're younger in general than how it's been in the past."
Pidcock has often been questioned over his decision to continue racing mountain bike and cyclocross instead of committing fully to the Tour, but the Brit is clear in his belief that they benefit his overall form, keeping him sharp throughout the season.
"Before I thought maybe I have to specialize more to win the Tour someday," Pidcock said. "But when you get the best out of me is when I am happy and enjoying it, and keeping things fresh.
"So if I was just on the road all year, yeah, you'd get the best out of me for a few months, but I'd get sick of it. That's why I drop into mountain biking in summer. I need different stuff to do."
Pidcock didn't hold back on his opinions of the course after riding the Olympic MTB test event at Elancourt Hill in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines alongside fellow multi-discipline star Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman is similarly likely to modify his road season to fit in goals at the Tour de France and the Olympics.
"I wasn't that impressed, to be honest," said Pidcock. "They've just gravelled over a hill and it's big gravel, slippy. They could have made a more exciting track, because there is a hill there, and they could have made some nice natural features, but I think they're scared it's going to rain."
