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That said, this might have been Tom's best chance to do the WC triple (assuming either Wout or MvdP races the CX championships next year...)
and also because everything seems to becoming together (apart from Cx of course) under one event. So he'll have to choose next year....while it makes sence and looks fancy that all events are at the same time in the same city. Courses might not be as good and with multi discipline riders coming through (pidcock, Christen, mvdp, etc), it feels its come at precisely the wrong time.
This is what I like the most about these guys.I don't really believe becoming WC in all three disciplines is achievable for Pidcock. MTB is probably the easiest one for him to do, but both WVA and MVDP are just plain better than him at CX and on the road the competition is much, much stronger. It would be impressive enough to win the road race WC even once in his career tbh.
Also I can't say I'm a fan of him trying to juggle all three disciplines, I don't believe it's ideal for his performances. If you look at his performances on the road; it's not bad but I believe he could achieve much more if he didn't "half as$" it like he's doing now. I'm getting the same vibes as with VDP in the sense that it seems like he's just doing whatever he feels like.
He is capable of winning all 3, but probably not in the same year. And he's going to have to get a better starting position, which means riding more World Cups to improve his ranking.
....
It will be interesting to see how they organise the various races; one hopes they make it possible for riders to do both.
There's enough hills around Glasgow to make it difficult, and if they have a similar city circuit to what we've seen it can be raced hard, but we've not even had rumours of what's planned yet from what I've seen and I worry it'll be pretty much nothingness until they hit the city.there are 3 less world cups next year before the worlds and it comes just after the tour ends - 23 July. (1 1/2 weeks) Worlds - 3-13 July. Good for tour legs I suppose. Be interesting to see what he does, I can see the road race course being relatively flat, with a small bunch at the finish in the centre of glasgow.
also he never actually said all 3 in the same year, just over the course of his career. so he really only has two years to win the mtb worlds with all indication that he will stop in 2024 after Paris.
This is what I like the most about these guys.
It's certainly entertaining and I appreciate it but I don't believe it's good for their career tbh. At some point they'll have to focus fully on one discipline or it's always going to cost them.
also he never actually said all 3 in the same year, just over the course of his career. so he really only has two years to win the mtb worlds with all indication that he will stop in 2024 after Paris.
I suppose it depends how they define their success. I think the different disciplines likely motivate them better too. If you're bored with one you can dive into the other.It's certainly entertaining and I appreciate it but I don't believe it's good for their career tbh. At some point they'll have to focus fully on one discipline or it's always going to cost them.
also he never actually said all 3 in the same year, just over the course of his career. so he really only has two years to win the mtb worlds with all indication that he will stop in 2024 after Paris.
Why can't it be both? Last year he raced from the beginning of December through to the end of January, which included a rest and training block following racing la Vuelta and the Worlds RR. This year he appears to be finishing with the ToB which would give a greater period of time between starting in December. With that in mind he could maybe start late November and then have time to get back in to the swing of things and peak for the rumoured London WC and and then again for the Hoogerheide Worlds. I realise he says in the article that it doesn't suit him as it's getting drier and drier each year but he was third last year in that WC and then won on probably the driest Worlds course ever (albeit it was slightly lumpier than the field of Hoogerheide). If I recall correctly he won the Rucphen WC which is quite similar to the Hoogerheide one and was also pretty dry bar a couple of damp patches due to morning dew/frost on the ground.]another one to pull out of the worlds...seems to be more mental fatigue after losing the mtb worlds.
and looks to be either european cx block including the world cup london (if it happens) or the worlds block. probably the former.
I think he is just down at the minute so doesn't quite have the drive to think about competing against wout and mvdp. Although he took a big training block and was focusing more on the worlds, he did lose out to eli and lars in hoogerheide. He seems to also want to be fresh for the classics next year after what was a disappointing campaign this year, largely due to illness and possibly fatigue. (travelling to usa etc).Why can't it be both? Last year he raced from the beginning of December through to the end of January, which included a rest and training block following racing la Vuelta and the Worlds RR. This year he appears to be finishing with the ToB which would give a greater period of time between starting in December. With that in mind he could maybe start late November and then have time to get back in to the swing of things and peak for the rumoured London WC and and then again for the Hoogerheide Worlds. I realise he says in the article that it doesn't suit him as it's getting drier and drier each year but he was third last year in that WC and then won on probably the driest Worlds course ever (albeit it was slightly lumpier than the field of Hoogerheide). If I recall correctly he won the Rucphen WC which is quite similar to the Hoogerheide one and was also pretty dry bar a couple of damp patches due to morning dew/frost on the ground.
I'd throw maybe an X2O or Superprestige in before jumping in and doing any WCs straight away.I think going off recent years and looking at the schedule ...something like:
Tabor (wc)
Ruchpen (wc)
Koppenberg
Euros
Overijse (wc)
Hulst
Gavere - Antwerp (wc)
London (wc)?
Zolder
Diegem
Baal
Hamme - Besancon (wc)
Worlds
so around 15 crosses..but you could forget the christmas stuff to prepare fully for classics.
He did 13 last year but only started at the beginning of december having finished the road worlds at the end of september, followed by a slight injury I think after initially planning to ride the world cups in america.