Tom Pidcock smiles after Lombardy–Gravel World Championship double when asked about cyclo-cross

Pidcock finished fifth in the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday, a race of almost six hours covering 238 kilometers through the Italian hills. With that race still fresh in his legs, he boarded a (private) plane to Maastricht, arriving about 12 hours later to compete in the World Gravel Championships in the southern Netherlands.

“I like to try new things, and Pinarello came up with a new gravel bike, so I thought it would be cool to ride it. The focus was on Lombardy, but it was great to be able to add this to the mix,” he said, explaining his decision to attempt the remarkable double, which he was the only one to try.

“My legs didn't feel bad, I can't complain about that,” Pidcock said honestly in the mixed zone after the race. “It was fine, but did it have an impact? I have no idea. It was a totally different way of racing. At the beginning, it was all about positioning, then everyone was in their place.”

“It was chaos from the start. I didn't know much about how the race worked, including the route and everything,” he admitted candidly. “But it was fun, or at least fun but tough. All in all, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I was there, even though it was painful. It was good fun.”

The British rider now has a long season behind him. “I'm going on vacation, so I'm not thinking about cyclo-cross,” he said with a big smile after the race, which Florian Vermeersch won.