Tom Pidcock to make Ineos Grenadiers debut at Tour du Haut Var alongside Geraint Thomas

(Photo by Marc Van Hecke/Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 15 February 2021

Tom Pidcock will make his debut for Ineos Grenadiers at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var.

The 21-year-old Brit officially joined the WorldTour squad on February 1, and will use the French stage race as a warm-up in preparation for a number of one-day Classics he's set to line up for this spring.

Alongside Pidcock for the Ineos Grenadiers will be two Grand Tour winners in Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart, as well as former world time trial champion Rohan Dennis.

This will be Geoghegan Hart's debut race of 2021, and first since winning the maglia rosa at the 2020 Giro d'Italia. Geraint Thomas, meanwhile, already got his season underway at Étoile de Bessèges.

>>> ‘Felt like a pure bike racer again’ – Mark Cavendish delighted to race again with Deceuninck – Quick-Step, despite mechanical

Pavel Sivakov will ride his first race since last year's Tour de France, while Dylan van Baarle and Jhonatan Narváez will also open their 2021 accounts.

"We back we back we back we back we back we back we back we back... attttttackkkkkkkkk," Tao Geoghegan Hart tweeted, apparently at least a little bit excited to be racing again.

After the three-day Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, won by Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) last year, Pidcock will head to the opening weekend in Belgium for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

Then it will be over to Italy for Strade Bianche before returning to Belgium in April for Brabantse Pijl, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Ineos Grenadiers have made a fast start to 2021, taking four wins in the two races they've lined up for so far.

At Étoile de Bessèges, world time trial champion Filippo Ganna took the last two stages, winning from a breakaway before an exhibition in his prowess against the clock. Then at the Tour de La Provence, Iván Sosa won the Mont Ventoux stage to secure the overall win, Egan Bernal finishing behind him up Ventoux as well as in the GC.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.

Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).

I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.