In the absence of the reigning champion Tadej Pogačar, and on a course that suits his explosivity, Britain’s Tom Pidcock is looking forward to his “best shot so far” at winning the UCI Road World Championships on Sunday.
The 27-year-old is among the favourites for the elite men’s road race in Montreal, Canada, which stretches 273.4km and counts 12 laps of a punchy city-centre circuit. He placed 6th on a similar course at the Grand Prix de Montréal earlier this month, a result that gave him confidence ahead of his fifth elite Road Worlds.
“It’s definitely a course that suits me, that’s for sure,” Pidcock told Cycling Weekly and other media in a round table interview earlier this week.
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“I think it’s a course that also favours saving for one big move. If you ride it attritionally and make efforts all the time then I think, in the end, it’s difficult to make the proper difference, to get people off your wheel. The climb’s not very steep.”
Following the GP de Montréal, Pidcock travelled to Colorado in the US for some last-minute altitude training. He arrived back in the Canadian city on Thursday evening, in what he feels is “really good” form.
“I did some VO2 efforts at 2,500m for the first time ever, and I actually managed to do them, so that must be quite a good thing,” he said. “But in one-day races, you can get it wrong, even if you feel good leading into it.
“I think becoming road world champion would be something that would be truly amazing in my career. It’s going to be so hard to win. I think this is my best opportunity so far in my career, that’s for sure.
“But having said that, I think the depth is so deep I might not even stand on the podium. I think it’s quite an open race, and even having said that, it’s my best shot so far.”
Pidcock won the cross-country mountain bike world title in August.
(Image credit: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)
Part of Pidcock’s increased chances comes due to the non-attendance of Slovenia’s Pogačar, the winner of the last two road world titles, who is recovering from neck and collarbone fractures suffered in a crash at the Vuelta a España last month.
Asked if Pogačar’s absence will make the race more open, Pidcock said: “100%. I wouldn’t know who to bet on now. If Tadej was racing, I would have bet on him.”
Instead, the Briton singled out two other favourites. “I think the two stand-out guys are [France’s Paul] Seixas and [Mexico’s Isaac] Del Toro,” he said, also citing time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) as a rider who will “for sure be good”.
As for Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Wout van Aert (Belgium), two names that feature prominently on contenders lists, Pidcock believes the amount of climbing – 3,800m – makes it “not their perfect course. But they will still do well, I have no doubt about that.”
Victory at the Italian one-day race GP Industria & Artigianato earlier this month is the Briton’s most recent scalp.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Already this season, Pidcock has won five times for his trade team, Pinarello Q36.5. He also finished ninth at the Tour de France, and earned his second career mountain bike world title.
He will lead the British squad in the men’s road race alongside Adam Yates, his former team-mate at Ineos Grenadiers, now of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and winner of the GP de Montréal in 2023.
“[Adam and I] kept trying to have a call [to discuss leadership tactics] and then it kept getting cancelled. People were on flights and recons and all sorts of things, but no, we will discuss it,” Pidcock said.
“It’s no different to any other race. Adam has won Montréal before, he’s got a lot of experience, and has also been part of the winning team [at the GP de Montréal] for the past five years. He’s very experienced on this course.”
The eight-rider British squad also includes Oscar Onley, Fred Wright, Callum Thornley, Mark Donovan, James Shaw and Finlay Pickering.
The elite men’s road race is the final event of this year’s UCI Road World Championships and is scheduled to start at 9am local time (2pm BST) on Sunday 27 September.
