Why Tom Pidcock’s MTB-to-road transition is finally working: ‘It helped a lot’

Tom Pidcock did not race on the road for a while after the Tour de France, instead turning his attention to the Mountain Bike World Championships, where he claimed the rainbow jersey. His focus has now shifted back to the road, and the Pinarello-Q36.5 Brit immediately returned to winning ways. With Tadej Pogačar absent, Pidcock is also among the leading contenders for the World Championships in Canada.

First, however, he will line up at the GP Québec and GP Montréal, where he will face many of the riders he is likely to encounter again at the World Championships. It will be Pidcock’s first appearance in both Canadian races.

“It should be good racing,” he tells Cyclingnews. After the Tour de France, he explained, things had felt slightly strange, so he deliberately avoided rushing back into hard training. He then put in an intense final block ahead of the Mountain Bike World Championships, felt strong there and was also pleased with how quickly his road form returned. Rather than placing too much pressure on himself, Pidcock said he simply wants to enjoy the final part of the season.

His form certainly suggests that approach is working. Pidcock produced a superb comeback at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole to take the world title, before returning to road racing one week later at the GP Industria & Artigianato. It was his first road race since the Tour de France, yet he immediately rode to victory. In previous years, that transition between disciplines has not always gone nearly as smoothly.

Pidcock explained that switching directly from mountain biking to road racing had often left him struggling to rediscover the rhythm required in the peloton. This time was different. After returning home, he completed a demanding training session and then pushed through another difficult week. He believes that work “helped a lot” when it came to feeling comfortable in a road race again, although he was also quick to point out that the Italian race did not feature the strongest field he will face this autumn.

Pidcock’s autumn programme includes the two Canadian WorldTour races and the World Championships, followed later by Il Lombardia and the Tour of Guangxi. For now, his aim is simply to keep producing strong results and maintain the momentum he has built over the past few weeks. His road victory came as something of a surprise even to him, and the 27-year-old appears determined not to overcomplicate matters as the biggest races approach.

Despite the major strides Pidcock has made since joining Pinarello-Q36.5, his most recent WorldTour victory remains the 2024 Amstel Gold Race. Adding another one before the end of 2026 would therefore carry extra significance. Pidcock feels his season began strongly before becoming more difficult midway through the year. His Tour de France was positive given the circumstances — he eventually finished ninth overall — but he still feels there is more to take from the season and wants to finish the year on a high.

With Pogačar not lining up at the World Championships, a long list of riders will believe they have a genuine opportunity to take the rainbow jersey. Pidcock is firmly among them, and his build-up continues at the GP Québec on Friday. The Canadian WorldTour race provides his first opportunity to test himself against many of the same rivals he will meet later in Montréal.

Pidcock believes circuit racing generally suits him because of the repeated efforts and familiarity that develop lap after lap. He expects the GP Québec to be relatively open, particularly after last year showed how aggressively racing the revised course can make the contest less predictable. He expects several teams to try to exploit that possibility. Montréal, by contrast, may be much simpler to assess: when the race reaches its decisive moments, Pidcock believes it will ultimately come down to who has the strongest legs.