Pidcock: all in on the Olympics

Tom Pidcock tells Tom Thewlis he is fully focused on gold in Paris this summer

- Tom Thewlis

Tom Pidcock will prioritise defending his mountain bike title at the Paris Olympics this summer over the general classification of the Tour de France. In an exclusive interview with Cycling Weekly, Pidcock made it clear that mounting a successful defence of his Olympic medal was his main objective.

“That is my priority,” he said. “That’s the thing that means the most to me, to defend that title. Obviously I have these ambitions in the Tour de France too, so I’ve got to try and align them both.”

The Ineos Grenadiers rider will head to Paris straight after competing in the Tour de France. He will ride both the cross-country mountain bike race and the road race as he looks to add another gold medal to his palmarès.

“I think defending an Olympic title on its own is a pretty big thing regardless of anything else,” he said. “My priority is mountain biking, and I’ve made that clear to the GB team as well.”

Once the Tour has wrapped up in Nice, Pidcock has just eight days before he races at the cross-country venue at Elancourt Hill in south-west Paris, and admitted that the proximity of the two events will be a real test.