Tom Pidcock planning UCI Gravel World Championships debut in October

Tom Pidcock is considering making his debut at the UCI Gravel World Championships in October after completing the late season block of Italian one-day races.

The Gravel Worlds will take place in Maastricht, the Netherlands on 11-12 October later this year. The showpiece gravel races were initially due to be held in France's southern Côte d’Azur region, but due to a raft of "technical" reasons, it was announced that the French Riviera could no longer stage the event.

Pidcock told Cycling Weekly that he is planning to be on the start list, speaking during an interview at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre near Salzburg, Austria last week. The 25-year-old recently finished 16th at the Giro d'Italia and is unlikely to race again until August's Vuelta a España, the final Grand Tour of the season.

"The idea is I'll do the Vuelta, the Worlds, the Italian races and then Gravel Worlds," Pidcock said, when asked about his end of season plans. "I'll be going into all of the one-day races to win, I think the Vuelta will massively help with that."

The 25-year-old has thrived in races including gravel sectors in recent years, winning Strade Bianche in 2023 and finishing second to Tadej Pogačar earlier this season. He also finished second on the gravel stage of last year's Tour de France, narrowly missing out on the win to Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) in a sprint finish in Troyes.

A variety of riders from the men's and women's WorldTour have been successful at the Gravel Worlds since its inception in 2022. Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos won the elite men's and women's races in 2024, while Matej Mohorič and Kasia Niewiadoma claimed the two elite rainbow jerseys the year before.

After visiting Red Bull, Pidcock travelled home to the UK to receive his OBE at Buckingham Palace yesterday with his partner, Beth.

"I'm going to Paul Smith, he's going to sort me out a suit for it," Pidcock said. "I'll also go for a curry in London, I'll be making sure that's on the agenda. It's about just doing normal stuff during this period and making the most of it.

"We make big sacrifices. You do end up missing things, but that all helps me work hard as I can then look forward to these times and just enjoy them when they come."

A longer feature interview with Tom Pidcock will be published in Cycling Weekly magazine later this summer.