Pidcock warns, he will not let anyone decide his role in the Tour

The British Tom Pidcock has very clear goals for the Tour de France, which, despite the pressure he receives in his country, do not involve attacking the overall classification of the race as he mentioned in a statement a couple of days ago, before starting his participation in the Tour de Suisse, the final step in his preparation for the French round, which in turn will serve as preparation for the Paris Olympics where he hopes to repeat his gold medal in XCO.

Pidcock shakes off the pressure ahead of the Tour de France

We are used in Spain to demand that cyclists who stand out early perform well in the Tour de France, as if that were the only race that matters when deciding who is a great cyclist. A pressure that has crushed great cyclists for decades.

In fact, something similar also happens abroad. Just after his splendid 2023 season, there were those who criticized Tadej Pocagar for not winning the Tour de France. The latest to suffer this pressure is Tom Pidccock, as after the successful decade of the Sky team in which cyclists like Wiggins, Froome, or Thomas dominated the race, they now miss the victories in what is still the most important race in the world.

However, Tom Pidcock is clear, "I am the one who will decide how I want my Tour to be that year. I know where I want to be and what I must do to achieve it."

Tom Pidcock is fine-tuning his form these days by participating in the Tour de Suisse, returning to the road after a spring in which he won the Amstel Gold Race and a part of the season on the mountain bike where he recently won the Nove Mesto race.

Now it's his turn again on the road for the Tour de France and the pressure is mounting from his country for him to consider attacking the Tour de France. It is true that the aspiration to win the Tour de France has always been around Tom Pidcock, who already knows what it is to win a high mountain stage in the race after his exhibition on the way to Alpe d'Huez in 2022 but, for now, his profile as a rider is for one-day races.

In any case, Pidcock considers that his track record is excellent with victories like the mentioned Tour stage, this year's Amstel, a Strade Bianche in addition to everything achieved in mountain bike and cyclocross. However, the comparison with current talents like Pogacar, or Remco unfairly diminishes any other race. "If at the end of my career I had a monument, a world championship, or a podium in the Tour, it would already be a much superior track record than many."

Returning to the Tour de France, it seems clear that the leadership at INEOS Grenadiers will fall on a Carlos Rodríguez who is increasingly solid as he showed in the recently disputed Dauphiné. Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas must be his luxury escorts, leaving Pidcock a secondary role that will allow him to seek partial victories while refining his preparation for his true goal of the season, which is none other than the gold medal in the XCO event at the Paris Olympics.