After an tumultuous relationship with the Tour de France, Tom Pidcock has said he “wasn’t exactly excited” to hear his team, Pinarello-Q36.5, will be at the race this year, but he will go with the aim of enjoying himself.
The 26-year-old won a stage on Alpe d’Huez on his Tour debut in 2022, but turned to target the general classification with Ineos Grenadiers in the subsequent two years, which he “didn’t really enjoy”, he said at the end of 2024.
“There’s such high pressure and expectations from external people, but also internally, from teams. In our team, I think it will be different,” he said.
“My main goal is to go there and have fun and enjoy it and I think that will bring success. Obviously, we’re going to have to train our balls off.”
“When you’re competing just to stay in the top 10, I struggle to find the motivation to do that and have to battle [with] that for three weeks. It’s just draining,” he told The Observer.
“I think if we can go and enjoy the stress of the Tour, then that will help change my mindset back to how it should be.
“[The Tour] is the biggest race in the world. It’s the race that inspired me when I was young. It’s inspiring probably millions of other kids, but to race, it’s not the most enjoyable. Hopefully we can change that.”
The Olympic mountain bike champion opens his road season on Friday at the two-stage Vuelta a la Región de Murcia. He will then race a full Classics campaign, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before heading to Barcelona for the start of the Tour on 4 July.
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