Ineos confident Pidcock can challenge Pogačar and Evenepoel at Ardennes Classics

Tom Pidcock is likely to skip the cobbled Classics in 2024 and focus his spring road campaign on the Ardennes with Ineos Grenadiers confident that the 24-year-old can compete against Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

Pidcock finished second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year to Evenepoel and finished third in Amstel Gold behind Pogačar and surprise package Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), and Ineos Grenadiers coach Kurt Bogaerts believes that his rider can make significant improvements next season.

“I don’t see any reason why he can’t compete with Pogačar and Evenepoel. We’ve not seen the best version of Tom on the road yet,” the Belgian told GCN in a phone interview on Thursday morning.

Bogaerts pointed to the fact that Pidcock had a disrupted spring campaign this season due to a crash and illness. He was forced off the bike for several days and endured a compact but intense cyclo-cross period. With ‘cross taking a back seat the former Strade Bianche winner can focus more attention on the road, and Bogaerts is confident that the British all-rounder can close the gap to the very best Ardennes riders.

Read more: Tom Pidcock to race six cyclo-cross World Cup events over the winter

“Last year he was second in Liege but if you have a crash in Tirreno and you’re off the bike for five days with a concussion, and if you can still turn things around and be competitive, that’s a good sign,” Bogaerts said.

“He was able to respond to the attack from Pogačar in Amstel and he just didn’t have the depth in his legs. It was the same with Remco on La Redoute. He could follow but he just missed a few per cent. He needs a clear run with no crashes or sickness. These other guys, his competitors, weren’t interrupted. Tom can go into battle with these guys, I’m confident of that.”

Skipping the cobbled Classics would give Pidcock more time to prepare for the Ardennes and would mirror the approach taken by most riders - minus Pogačar - who aim for Amstel, Fleche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. A final decision on Pidcock’s spring programme will be made at the start of December at Ineos Grenadiers’ next training camp.

“We’ve not made a final decision on that yet, and at the moment it’s just an option that we skip the cobbled Classics. We’re not there yet but as I’ve said before, he was second in Liège, and that’s the closest that he’s been to a Monument. We have big hopes for that one but we’ll see. We have a camp coming up and then we’ll finalise the programme for him,” Bogaerts added.

If Pidcock does skip the Cobbles classics he would still be able to target Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche before scheduling another training block in preparation for the Ardennes.

“We need to sit down with the team and discuss a lot of options. There are lots of double programmes around Algarve, Paris-Nice, and Tirreno, so your preparation doesn’t change but it’s about how things fit with the team. It doesn’t change much for Tom in terms of which races he does first,” Bogaerts said.

Who would lead Ineos Grenadiers in the cobbled Classics?

Should Pidcock skip the cobbled Classics next spring, Ineos would need to find a leader for races such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Filippo Ganna finished sixth in Paris-Roubaix this year, while Geraint Thomas has already ruled out a Classics campaign in an exclusive interview with GCN earlier in November.

Read more: Could Geraint Thomas replicate Bradley Wiggins and target the Spring Classics in his final season?

American rider Magnus Sheffield won De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne in 2022 and could be in line for more responsibilities next season.

“We have several good riders, and I don’t know in detail what the other riders have for their goals. We have good riders who have won in the early season before, so we’ll see what their aspirations are and how we can make strong teams. We’re not there yet with the details or the race programmes. It’s all under construction, so at the moment I can’t say more on that.” Bogaerts said.