Tom Pidcock says the snowy scenes of the Val di Sole cyclocross World Cup round were a good start to getting the discipline into the Winter Olympics.
Should the sport eventually make its way into the Games, it would give Pidcock, who won gold in mountain biking this summer in Tokyo, the chance to join a very select group of athletes who have won medals at both summer and winter competitions.
But back to Italy, where Pidcock managed third in his first podium of the season, only his second cyclocross race back after seventh at the Telenet Superprestige Boom last week.
“We made a lot of mistakes in the final,” Pidcock said of his tussle with Eli Iserbyt, who he managed to hold off to seal third, the Belgian finishing 16 seconds behind the Brit in fourth place. "It was really tricky and technical, but I tried to stay as focused as possible.
"It works very well," he continued of the snow, which had been purposefully maintained to showcase to the International Olympic Committee the sport's suitability to join the roster of sports that make up the Winter Games. "The snow is very different from what we are all used to. It's a good start to get cyclocross towards the Winter Games."
Pidcock has noticed his improvement already despite his cyclocross season being less than 10 days old and steadily he'll ride himself into top form, already looking forward to the return of the mud next weekend in Namur in the next World Cup round.
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“I hope I'll be good next weekend. Last week I was seventh, and now third. I think I'm finding my legs again," he estimated.
"Do I already have my top form? I don't know, but it will be fine. I'm looking forward to the mud, because that's more my thing and I prefer it to snow and sand.”
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Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
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.
