Pidcock is ready for another Olympic gold on Saturday: "I will definitely be competing"

After his agonizing victory a few days ago in the XCO event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, reaffirming the gold medal he won in Tokyo, Tom Pidcock is already focused again to face the road race event that will take place next Saturday, August 3rd, where he is positioned as one of the top contenders for the win.

Tom Pidcock fully focused on achieving the gold medal in the road race as well

It would be something completely unprecedented and incredible, but Tom Pidcock does not shy away from such a challenge. Just 5 days after successfully defending the Olympic Champion title he achieved in Tokyo, the British rider is fully concentrated on the assault for gold in the Road Cycling event that will take place on Saturday.

In any case, his main goal, the XCO race, has already been achieved. This has meant a significant physical and mental strain, especially due to the circumstances during a race where he had to recover from a puncture and had a fierce battle with Frenchman Victor Koretzky that was resolved just a few hundred meters from the finish line with a last-minute overtaking maneuver.

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“Normally, after a mountain bike race, I do a long training session, but this time I will take some time to recover” stated Tom Pidcock after the race, where, in addition to fulfilling the interviews and other commitments of an Olympic Champion, he took 24 hours of rest with his family to recover both his body and mind before facing the few training sessions he will be able to do before the Saturday race.

Starting today, Wednesday, he will return to training with his teammate, also from INEOS Grenadiers and the Olympic team, Josh Tarling, most likely with a long session. On Thursday, the plan will be to familiarize himself with the final circuit through the streets of Paris with the three climbs to Montmartre, as the organization will close the route to traffic precisely for that purpose. A challenging route due to the state of the asphalt in the French capital and the narrow and winding streets of the bohemian Parisian neighborhood.

He will have formidable rivals among the favorites for the victory in the race, such as the current World Champion Mathieu van der Poel, also the main favorite for victory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games; Wout van Aert, who surprised with a tremendous time trial in a year that was going wrong for him after his fall in the Belgian spring; Remco Evenepoel, who arrives at the race especially motivated after winning the gold in the time trial, or Julian Alaphilippe, who has carefully prepared for this race and will try to be a prophet in his own land.

In any case, the Parisian circuit is not particularly favorable for Tom Pidcock as the final circuit and the climbs to Sacre Coeur are more suitable for powerhouse men capable of producing incredible wattage numbers over a short period than for a small climber like the British cyclist. However, it would not be the first time that Pidcock surprises us, let's remember that he has a victory in the Strade Bianche in his record. A rider with few but very select road victories, like the Amstel Gold Race he won this spring. What is more select than the Olympic Games like the Paris 2024 ones? On Saturday starting at 11 in the morning we will know the answer.