11 months ago, Tom Pidcock spoke of wanting "to prove himself" as a Tour de France GC rider. However after revealing that he was "saying what I think everyone wanted to hear" when he set that goal publicly, is the Tour really among the Brit's plans for 2025?
After a long, multi-goal but again successful 2024 season, Pidcock rethought his comments on stage at Rouleur Live.
Pidcock won the Amstel Gold Race but abandoned the Tour due to COVID-19 after a disappointing two weeks of racing and a painful second place on the gravel stage. He bounced back in spectacular style by defending his mountain bike gold medal from Tokyo in thrilling fashion.
With that goal ticked off and the next four-year Olympic cycle now in its infancy, there's more room to focus on the road, with Pidcock already admitting that cyclocross and mountain bike may have to take a backseat if he is to reach his full road potential.
He still wants to prove himself as a road rider, that's been constant in his comments towards the end of the season.
"For sure, the Olympic cycle is four years so I think definitely the next two years is really key for Tom to explore his limits on the road and how far he can get," said Pidcock's coach Kurt Bogaerts to Cyclingnews in September, speaking before the drama unfolded around his Il Lombardia 'deselection' and future at Ineos emerged.
"He can score in the Classics, he can score in the Grand Tours" and more importantly, "he will have more space for it, mentally" without the off-road commitments.
"I don't say completely no to off-road but it will be more in function of his road goals and Tom said it himself that he wants to try to be the best possible on the road. We are also realistic that we have never really had the ideal preparation so we don't know his limits on the road."
Yet Pidcock focused on th Classics when asked by broadcaster Matt Stephens about his goals for 2025, not to mention another assault at the Tour.
"I think I've lost kind of that ability - the sprint, the speed that I had maybe two to three years ago, and that's what I want to try and find again," said Pidcock of what he's aiming for next year.
"My favourite races are the one-day races, the Classics, and I haven't won a Monument yet. So that's where I want to focus."
The Brit spoke openly about how he didn't enjoy his past two appearances at the Tour having not progressed from 16th place overall with a stage win during his maiden Tour in 2022.
"My first year in the Tour was amazing, I won a stage, G (Geraint Thomas) was on the podium, it was great. And then the last two years, to be honest, I didn't really enjoy it," he admitted. "I need to try and refind that feeling I had."
Bogaerts is adamant the cycling world hasn't yet seen what Pidcock can fully do in a three-week race, despite admitting that he's not quite been on the same level results-wise as the few superstars dominating much of the wins on the calendar.
"I still think he can be really, really good on the road. And at the same time, he's 25 and if you look at his palmares off-road and road, there are some nice wins that he's had," said Bogaerts.
"He doesn't win the amount as a Pogačar or an Evenepoel but I think many 25-year-olds would like what Tom has put together at the moment. I'm a very realistic person and very positive in this and for me, he's more than reaching his goals.
"There's still a few twitches maybe and we still haven't seen the ultimate performance in a Grand Tour yet. He was 13th in the Tour last year, I don't think that's his best at the moment, I think that there was more in him but the circumstances were not there yet."
Speaking before Pidcock's future at Ineos was plunged into doubt towards the end of the season and the Brit revealed his dissatisfaction with the Tour, Bogaerts was confident that the 2025 race would be a vital one for how his rider developed.
"When he did his first Tour de France, he tasted what the TDF is. He won a really nice stage up Alpe d'huez and he really wants more like that," said the Belgian coach.
"Tom is a very honest person and he sees that at the moment we have strong opponents and it's about identifying his limits on GC, identifying what he can get out of this race ultimately prepared.
"The Tour is a key goal for Tom because it's one of the biggest races there is and Tom definitely wants to play a role there. This year again, he was not far off winning a stage, maybe he had COVID-19 already but he was still second on the gravel stage, which is quickly forgotten, so Tom for sure has ambitions also in this race and on the climbs.
"I don't think there are for Tom any limits at the moment, but we need to see how the next year will go, which will be a key year."
Tom Pidcock is set to ride for Ineos Grenadiers in 2025 after his transfer sage ended. Whether he'll be on the eight-man Tour de France roster come July is yet to be confirmed.
