Tom Pidcock was optimistic for COVID-19 for six days after he left the Tour de France earlier than stage 14 however the Briton believes he has recovered in time to focus on a second consecutive gold medal within the mountain bike occasion in Paris on Monday.
Pidcock will experience the mountain bike occasion in Elancourt to the southwest of Paris on Monday, July 29 after which lead Great Britain’s males’s squad within the Olympic Games street race on Saturday, August 3. The ladies’s mountain bike occasion is on Sunday, July 28.
“I’m fantastic,” Pidcock mentioned succinctly of his restoration from COVID-19, as he spoke from the Team GB lodge on the outskirts of Paris on Friday morning.
“The plan was at all times to complete the Tour, getting sick was not a part of that plan, and now we have to adapt to that.
“I’m in an excellent place. I’m pleased with the place I’m. I’ve recovered nicely. And, yeah, I believe I might be fairly content material with how my restoration went.”
Pidcock and different riders did a ultimate recon experience of the Elancourt Hill circuit on Wednesday. Rain has since soaked the course however is not going to change the racing, nor the opinion of Pidock and different athletes who took half in a take a look at occasion final autumn.
The twisting circuit up and down Elancourt Hill is basically a man-made gravel observe with added rocks and different technical options. Pidock doesn’t prefer it however will nonetheless race for gold.
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“It’s not the most effective course on the earth however it’s the identical for everybody,” he mentioned. “It’s bland and I believe they might have completed a greater job of creating a extra mountain bike course.
“I really like mountain biking for the explanations that drive us to get pleasure from it. That’s the programs you get to experience, the locations you get to go to. When you simply gravel over a pleasant hillside, it is not likely mountain biking.”
The street race could have a distinct dynamic
The 24-year-old Yorkshireman gained gold within the mountain bike in Tokyo and has continued to efficiently mix the self-discipline together with his skilled street racing profession with Ineos Grenadiers.
A second gold off-road is once more his main objective, with COVID-19 and the lottery of the 90-rider, rolling street race, making a second success within the street race harder.
“My major objective is the mountain bike race. I’m going to consider the street race on Tuesday,” he mentioned, lining up his goals and hopes.
“I might be pleased with the medal of the street race. The groups are fairly small, so it may very well be fairly a distinct racing dynamic. It’s fairly an unknown. Maybe now we have to race a bit extra open minded, a bit extra aggressively than we’d usually with groups to regulate.
“You might undoubtedly play it sensible and sort of get a free experience to the end in sure conditions. And it’ll be vital to have a robust crew in order that we might be close to the entrance with numbers to play these video games.”
“It’s suited to the blokes with uncooked energy, the large sprinters like Van der Poel, Pedersen and others. But a man like Remco Evenepoel can even go far as a result of the groups are very small. It’s going to be numerous possibly fairly unstructured.”
Winning a gold medal within the mountain bike race in Tokyo was a profession spotlight for Pidcock. He has nonetheless to fulfil his ambitions in Grand Tours however that could be a objective for the long-term future. The summer time of 2024 is about extra Olympic success.
“Winning in Tokyo was a kind of moments I’ll always remember,” he mentioned. “The Olympics transcends biking as a sport. The feeling of representing your nation on the Olympics shouldn’t be like the rest.
“You’re sort of representing the entire nation and you are feeling that it is sort of a weight in your again. It can push you alongside should you let it, or should you do not handle it, nicely, possibly you fall backwards. But you need to use that to sort of inspire your self, it pushes you on.
“It’s additionally a platform to encourage individuals. Personally, meaning so much to me, having the ability to encourage and provides the suitable instance, by setting an instance.”