Tom Pidcock: I'm going to Tokyo Olympics to win gold
The British all-rounder is confident despite an injury set back after crashing earlier this month
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Tom Pidcock has said that he will win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics cross-country mountain bike event after putting in strong displays in recent World Cup events.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider has put in excellent performances across three separate disciplines of cycling, starting the year with cyclo-cross before having a full spring Classics campaign on the road to the summer on the mountain bikes.
But, the 21-year-old did suffer from a crash in training where he broke his collarbone and shoulder, which needed surgery. However, he managed to get back on the bike very quickly and is now putting all his focus onto building to the next World Cup event and the Olympics.
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In an interview with mbr, Pidcock said: "At first when I had the option to go for the mountain bike or road races I was thinking I should commit to the mountain bike as I have a good chance of getting a medal. But now after the last World Cup in Nove Mesto, I’m going to win. That’s where I’m aiming for.
"I’ve had a setback that I need to overcome, but it shouldn’t really affect me. I think I had five days off, and another one with the Covid vaccine and it was horrible, so I lost five or six days. But I was going to have five or six days after the Tour de Suisse anyway, which I would have ridden. So actually it didn’t affect the planning too much."
After his win in Nove Mesto, Pidcock said he was "born to mountain bike" and traced his time growing up on the MTB and BMX bikes, making him stronger on the road. But he is concentrating on the Olympics before a return to the road.
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"I should be at my best still [for the Olympics]," he added. "I’m only going to ride my mountain bike the week before the Les Gets World Cup, it’s all up the road at the moment so I don’t jar the shoulder. The only thing is I might lack a bit of confidence at Les Gets but that should be fine."
The British cyclocross champion is currently training in Andorra where he lives. But he has been limited with training as he can't ride in the rain due to a possibility of an infection developing.
The Tokyo Olympics men's cross-country race takes place on Monday, July 26.
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.