Tom Pidcock to compete in 9 more cyclocross races, but still uncertain about defending world championship

Cyclo-cross
Tom Pidcock to compete in 9 more cyclocross races, but still uncertain about defending world championship

World champion Tom Pidcock will continue his cyclocross season until at least the end of January, with nine more races on his winter calendar.

The Englishman has already competed six times this season, winning the X2O Trofee in Kortrijk and the Superprestige in Boom. And now the program for the next six weeks has been revealed.

Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab) reports Pidcock's remaining schedule for the cyclocross world championships on February 5.

This Sunday he will participate in the UCI World Cup in Dublin, and between Christmas and New Year's he will take part in six races.

From December 23 to January 1, he will compete in the Silvermere Cross in Mol, the UCI World Cup in Gawer, two Superprestige races in Heusden-Zolder and Diegem, and the GP Sven Nys.

The X2O Trophy in Herentals on January 3 will be his last race before heading to his Ineos Grenadiers road training camp.

There is a two-week gap before the World Championships, which includes the final World Cup race in Besançon and the X20 Trophy race in Flandriencross. But by that point (the World Championships are a week later than last year), his attention may already be turning to his 2023 road debut.

Last month, Pidcock said he could not answer whether he would defend the rainbow jersey and that it would be difficult to balance the peak of that race with the start of preparations for the spring classics.

"I can't answer that yet," he said. If we have to wait until after the peak of the World Championships to start preparing for the Classic, then we'll have to ......."

Pidcock has been in the mix in recent races, winning solo in Boom over the weekend and finishing eighth in the Antwerp World Cup the next day after a slow start. In last week's World Cup in Hulst, he broke a wheel late in the race and missed out on second place.

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