Tom Pidcock forced to miss team's 'home race' and adjust his Tour de France preparation

The next rider to have to adjust his build-up to the Tour de France is Tom Pidcock. The Brit from Pinarello-Q36.5 was due to start the Tour de Suisse on Wednesday, but has had to pull out due to a mild viral infection. His team announced this on Tuesday morning in a press release.

The Tour de Suisse is losing yet another non-starter. Earlier, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) opted for the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes over the Tour de Suisse, and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) chose the Baloise Belgium Tour instead. Mads Pedersen was also set to start the Belgium Tour, but the Lidl-Trek Dane has since pulled out of that race too.

Pidcock is therefore the latest rider to have to change his plans. "Following a small number of missed training days at the team's altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada due to contracting a mild viral infection, the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team has decided to amend Tom Pidcock's June race programme to allow for additional recovery and training time," his team confirmed.

"As such the Tour of Switzerland has been removed from his race calendar to be replaced, health permitting, by the Andorra MoraBanc Classica on 21 June," meaning Pidcock looks set to return to racing later this week.

He doesn't appear overly concerned. "While disappointed to miss the Team's home race, Tom has returned home to Andorra where he will continue to train and is now very much looking forward to competing on his adopted home roads around the mountains of Andorra," his team added.

Pidcock last raced on 1 May, when he finished second at Eschborn-Frankfurt behind surprise winner Georg Zimmermann (Lotto-Intermarché). Shortly before that, he had taken a stage win at the Tour of the Alps.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs | LinkedIn | Email