Tom Pidcock undergoes dental surgery after high-speed crash at Tour de l’Avenir
The Brit has raced a full-on schedule, but has now had an operation four months after the fall


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Tom Pidcock has undergone dental surgery after his high-speed crash at the Tour de l’Avenir earlier this year.
The British road and cyclocross star crashed out of the prestigious under-23 race in August, suffering injuries to his face and losing some teeth.
Pidcock has raced a full-on schedule since the summer and intended to have the teeth fixed after his CX season, but signs of inflammation meant the procedure had to be bought forward to Monday (November 25).
Manager of CX team Trinity Racing, Kurt Bogaerts, told Belgian cycling website Wielerflits: “Three teeth were badly damaged at the time.
“One has even been completely demolished. That has been fixed for the time being. It didn't bother him too much, Tom himself said. He would have that sorted out after the cyclocross season. But two weeks ago, after taking X-rays, there were signs of inflammation so we thought it was better for him to work quickly.”
While fighting for victory on stage six of the 'mini- Tour de France', Pidcock slid out on a descent at speed and was rushed to hospital.
Pidcock, 20, is focussing solely on elite CX racing this winter for the first time, having dominated the junior and under-23 ranks.
So far this season, he has claimed second in the famous Koppenbergcross and taken top 10 finishes in the European Championships and the Koksijde World Cup round.
On his performance against the elites, Bogaerts said: “Tom still has to learn to lose. That is his biggest challenge this season. Our big goal is to make him mentally stronger.
“Losing, he’s never known that in youth.”
>>> Wout van Aert wins legal battle against former team after he broke contract
Pidcock is set to take a brief spell away from racing, having flown out to Barcelona shortly after his operation, while completing a five-day course of antibiotics.
From Barcelona he heads to Girona for an eight-day training camp, before he returns to Belgium next Friday for more CX racing.
Pidcock has yet to announce his road team for 2020, after Wiggins-Le Col shut up shop after the Tour of Britain, but has confirmed he will not be joining the WorldTour.
Next year he intends to race the Cape Epic mountain bike event, some spring road races, and mountain bike World Cups, as well as the Tour of Yorkshire and the Baby Giro.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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