PIDCOCK Thomas

General
WORLD CUP WIN
He won the 2021 World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic to became the first British man to win a cross-country World Cup since Gary Foord in 1994. He won the event by 60 seconds, the largest winning margin ever at Nove Mesto. The victory secured his place at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I think I was born to do mountain bike. It sounds stupid but I think it's what I've done since I was little and what I've enjoyed the most. Coming here and winning an elite World Cup at my second attempt, it's pretty insane really. I'm certainly in great shape. I'm going to take a break now, and then build hopefully towards the Olympics. I think I've shown what I can do on a mountain bike." (yorkshirepost.co.uk, 17 May 2021; mbr.co.uk, 17 May 2021)

MULTI-DISICPLINE APPROACH
He competes in mountain biking, cyclo cross, road and track cycling. In 2021 he began the year by racing cyclo cross at the world championships, before turning his focus to road cycling, and then mountain biking in preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. As of June 2021 he was in the Great Britain Junior Academy for both road and track cycling. He plans to continue to race and ride multiple disciplines. "They all complement each other very well and make me a more rounded rider. So why not? There's not a specific discipline or a specific race [that I want to win]. I want to become the best rider in the world. I want to go to the Olympics in mountain bike, but I think there is also a chance I could go on the road as well. I want to be a world tour road rider - riding the Tour de France and the Classics like Paris-Roubaix, and races like that." (olympics.com, 05 May 2021; Tompidcock.co.uk, 31 Jan 2021; cyclingnews.com, 08 May 2021; yorkshireveningpost.com, 10 Feb 2017)

JOINING GRENADIERS ROAD TEAM
He joined his first professional road cycling team, Ineos Grenadiers, in 2021 after two years with the Wiggins Continental team. In March 2021, the Grenadiers launched their first mountain biking team with Pidcock as their sole rider. "I am incredibly excited and proud to be signing for the Ineos Grenadiers. Like so many British cyclists of my generation, I have always aspired to race on the road with this team - to me, the best in the world. I just want to keep racing, learning and growing as a bike rider, and having the opportunity to do that in this team is amazing. I feel like I'm ready for the World Tour but also excited to keep exploring multiple disciplines with the support of this team behind me." (pinkbike.com, 19 Mar 2021; cyclingnews.com, 01 Nov 2020)

He became the first male British cyclo cross rider to win gold in an U23 category race at the cyclo cross world championships when he won gold at the 2019 edition in Bogense, Denmark. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Jun 2021)