Ineos Grenadiers have revealed Tom Pidcock's cyclocross schedule for the 2023-24 season, with the Briton's first appearance coming on December 16 at the X2O Trofee Herentals.
Pidcock will ride 10 races across December and January, four less than last season when he raced in the rainbow stripes. The World Championships are absent from Pidcock's programme for a second winter. He is expected to turn his focus to road training and racing after his final CX race of the season at the Benidorm World Cup on January 21.
The so-called 'Big three' of men's cyclocross: Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Pidcock have dominated the sport in recent years as they combine WorldTour road racing and cyclocross but all three have opted for reduced race schedules this winter and only current World Champion van der Poel has confirmed he will be in Tabor to defend his title.
With the Yorkshireman’s schedule revealed, there are four definite face-offs confirmed for the trio at the World Cup rounds in Antwerp, Gavere and Hulst. A final showdown will occur at the long-standing X2O Trofee race in Koksijde on the hilly, sandy course.
Van der Poel and Pidcock are expected to to race the World Cup races in Zonhoven and Benidorm, but Van Aert is only provisionally down to start.
Pidcock won two races in the rainbow jersey last year at the X2O Trofee in Kortrijk and Superprestige in Boom.
Success won't be as important for the former World Champion this year, as he prepares for bigger goals in 2024 at the Tour de France and the Paris Olympic Games, where he'll target both the road race and a defence of his cross-country mountain bike gold.
Pidcock recently did a recon with teammate Laurens de Plus of the gravel stage set to feature at next year's Tour in Troyes and has been training for several weeks.
Pidcock's reduced cyclocross calendar suggests he will opt for a similar road season to 2023, which started in February with a win in his first race at the Volta ao Algarve and saw him take a big victory as early as March 4 at Strade Bianche. The Classics will again be a goal before he turns to mountain biking and the Tour de France.
Tom Pidcock's 2023-24 Cyclocross schedule
- December 16 - X2O Trofee Herentals
- December 17 - UCI World Cup Namur
- December 23 – UCI World Cup Antwerp
- December 26 – UCI World Cup Gavere
- December 28 – Superprestige Diegem
- December 30 – UCI World Cup Hulst
- January 4 – X2O Trofee Koksijde
- January 6 - Hexia Cyclocross Gullegem
- January 7 – UCI World Cup Zonhoven
- January 21 – UCI World Cup Benidorm
