Big picture: Tom Pidcock’s camp hold the course as road season looms

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) may have cut his cyclo-cross season short due to a recent bout of ill health but neither the rider, nor his coach, Kurt Bogaerts are pressing the panic button just yet.

The British star was second in his first ‘cross race of the season and then followed that with an impressive win at the Namur World Cup last month. He was unable to replicate that form in his next volley of races, and wasn’t able to compete with the dominant force of the season in Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Illness meant that Pidcock was forced to pull out of last weekend’s races, and his only remaining off-road venture comes later this month in Benidorm.

Pidcock was already racing a cut-back ‘cross campaign after formulating a plan alongside Bogaerts that would allow his body to use the winter experience as a way of preparing the major objectives he has on the road. The Tour de France, Ardennes and the Olympic Games are key objectives for the British rider in 2024 and the notion of pushing through illness in December and January was wisely avoided.

“We cancelled last weekend but that’s it,” a relaxed Bogaerts told GCN from his home in Belgium. “The only race left on his calendar is Benidorm and we stick to the plan that we originally set. Tom wasn’t well in Badkamers and we made a decision to have some rest and then continue the build towards the road season. When you get sick in that busy period it’s hard to get healthy and it’s better now to focus more on the road. He’s taking a few days off.”

On the face of it, Pidcock’s cyclo-cross season was a mixed bag. He won a World Cup round but he wasn’t in the same space as Van der Poel. But who else has been? The Dutch rider has been on another planet in the last few months, winning ten races out of ten, and not even looking like there has been any pressure on his shoulders. He’s made world class riders in Pidcock and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) look human, which is no mean feat given their pedigree. Bogaerts certainly wasn’t concerned with the form of his rider or his riders this early in the year, and he brought context to the results sheet.

“I think that Tom did quite well. He was second in his first race, won his second race but it’s not easy to compete from the third or fourth row and Mathieu has a fast start. It’s a disadvantage to start that far back and in Hulst he was very unfortunate to crash on the first corner. He’s shown mental strength and passed 75 guys.

“You can see the negative and the positive. We know that Mathieu is in a really good place at the moment and he’s ahead of the curve but for us, we don’t have issues and we just look at the bigger picture.”

Some commentators, especially in Belgium, seemed almost offended that the so called ‘big three’ battles between Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pidcock never materialised but the reality is that the trio never saw the ‘cross campaign as such an endeavour. It was a concept created by the media in order to draw attention to the sport but all three athletes were, in truth, using the winter for different means and with slightly altered race programmes over the coming months. 

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“That’s part of the game. Sometimes you need to disconnect from that,” Bogaerts said in relation to the media coverage.

“I’m working for Ineos and for Tom and I’ll always be a bit objective towards Tom but you know that if you start several rows behind Mathieu, and that his pure explosive start is really good. If you come to 'cross with no preparation but finish second and first in your first two races but then have some illness, you have to deal with it as best as you can. Some will have criticism but it’s our job to learn from that experience. I’m confident that we’re in a good place. I just try to disconnect from the media. Big three, big one maybe at the moment, but that’s cycling.

"You start the season second and first and you’re god but then people change their mind quickly,” he added.

Pidcock’s complete road programme has yet to be officially announced but it’s more than likely that he will make his tarmac debut at the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal next month. By that time the cyclo-cross season will be firmly in the rearview mirror and the most critical portion of the season will be coming ever closer.

“We’ve not decided on the road season yet but it’s likely the first race will be Algarve. We want to have a good road season and try and improve some consistency in order to have a good Olympics. It’s an important year and you need to make calm decisions, not emotional ones,” Bogaerts said.