Tom Pidcock targets leader’s jersey at mountain bike World Cup opener in Nove Mesto Na Mora after ‘blowing away cobwebs’

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) hopes to have “blown out a few cobwebs” after preparing for the UCI World Cup opener in Nove Mesto Na Morave with his first mountain bike win of the season.

After winning Strade Bianche and making the podium at the Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Pidcock turned his attention from road racing to mountain bikes earlier this month.

He withdrew before the end of his opening race due to a mechanical issue but looked in good form as he won second time out in Chur, Switzerland.

“It certainly felt like it. Obviously next weekend is the first World Cup. It’s actually the leader’s jersey on offer as well, which I won’t get much chance to go for in my career I don’t think. So that would be nice.”

Pidcock was the champion last year in Nove Mesto Na Morave.

It was the last World Cup event he competed at in 2022 before he started preparing for his Tour de France debut.

Pidcock’s Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot was second in her race in Chur, having won a week earlier in Gueret.

“It was a really hard race so I’m quite happy with second,” said Ferrand-Prevot, who joined Ineos this season.

“To be honest I didn’t feel really good today, so I just wanted to try and stay with the group, then at the end try to finish with the best result possible. At the end the big goal is next week, so today was a good preparation as well for next weekend.

“Today was a really fast race with mostly one climb and one downhill. It was good to get some rhythm in the legs. It was not like a real MTB lap, it was more for a powerful rider, so we’ll see how I can be next weekend.

“I’ve worked really hard this winter. It was only my second race today so I think I will be better and better. Like always the big goal will be in summer with the World Championships. So I have time to build up and to progress.”

The series features the biggest disciplines in the sport – cross-country Olympic, cross-country short track, cross-country marathon, downhill, enduro and E-enduro – with 13 meetings slated on a packed calendar for 2023.

For the first time ever, all the disciplines will feature at a single event in Les Portes du Soleil from September 7-17, with France set to host a festival of mountain biking.