Tom Pidcock hints he’s free to decide Grand Tour ambitions – ‘One day I want to win the Tour de France’

Tom Pidcock admits he wants to “try and win” the Tour de France one day, hinting that he is free to decide whether to structure his season to go for the yellow jersey.

The 23-year-old rode his first Tour earlier this year and impressed after he had a far from ideal preparation, as he was forced to pull out from the Tour de Suisse due to coronavirus.

“One day I want to try and win the Tour. Whether I’m good enough next year, I don’t know.

“Maybe we put some more stage races in the calendar before, to build up on the climbing and the race kilometres on the climbs. But I don’t really know.”

Pidcock, who signed a deal earlier this year to be at Ineos Grenadiers until 2027, is currently recovering from a knee injury that has forced him to miss the start of the cyclo-cross season.

He flew to Los Angeles to undergo a more intensive rehab programme, having suffered with knee problems for the last 18 months.

“I had it since February last year, so it’s been ongoing,” said Pidcock. “I can still ride my bike, I just have knee pain when I do it. We went through phases where it was good then passes where it wasn’t.

“It’s not really performance inhibiting. The main thing is my sprint. I can’t sprint in training because it hurts, so this year my sprint hasn’t been nearly as good as last year. That’s the issue now.”