Trainer Pidcock: "Potential is huge, but I don't want to destroy him"
After his victory in Gavere, Thomas Pidcock is also one of the favorites for next weekend's cross in Namur. The Briton trained today at the mining site in Beringen. "I will always remember my first victory against Mathieu van der Poel", he says. And the future? "Tom is an all-rounder. We do not rule out anything", says trainer Kurt Bogaerts.
Pidcock booked his first major professional victory as a cyclist last weekend. "Putting my name on the list of riders who were able to beat Van der Poel, I will always remember that", he says a few days later. "Hopefully this is the start of more."
"Van der Poel is clearly the best cyclo-cross rider of the moment. So beating him is nice. And it gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the winter. As a child you dream of winning big races against the greatest riders in the world, that has now succeeded. "
After his victory, Pidcock is suddenly in the spotlight. He is described as an all-rounder. What are Pidcock's ambitions? "There is not one particular race that I want to win, I mainly want to achieve a list of achievements. I want to become world champion in the three disciplines. I would like to do all of that in one year, but if I could already win all jerseys once, I will be very happy. "
And what about the Tour de France? "There has always been a voice in my head that wanted to win the Tour. But it was only recently that I realized that I really want to and that it might be possible. Many other riders of my generation are already doing very well at the pros. That also gives me confidence that I will be able to do it next year. "
Trainer Bogaerts: "Don't want to destroy him"
"He was enthusiastic after Gavere, but we didn't really celebrate," says trainer Bogaerts. "He did thank everyone and on Monday we just got back on track with the training. It was mainly a relief that it had once been possible to beat Van der Poel, but he remains with his feet on the ground."
Bogaerts can estimate better than anyone whether the label of "super talent" is rightly put on Pidcock. "It is the greatest talent I have worked with. He is not yet at his top, he can still grow a lot if he has the time. That is why I have slowed his career a bit so far. we postponed a little longer. Why would you go too fast if things are going well? Let him develop in all disciplines. "
"I don't want to skip steps. What I really want to achieve now is that he can fully develop as an athlete. That would be the greatest honor for me as a trainer. I want to be able to look straight in the mirror in a few years and know that I Didn't destroy him. That's what counts. And if he didn't win the Tour in the end, then I can live with that. "
But is that within his capabilities? Is Pidcock a future Tour winner? "I don't know where his limits are. You can't rule out anything with him. He has a lot of potential, but whether he also has those last percentages to win the Tour, you only know when the time really comes."
"Now we try to keep the range of possibilities open. As a trainer I also have an educational task. He lives here in Belgium during the cyclocross season, so his family entrusts us with that too. He is very strong mentally. He then moves to a big team ( Ineos, ed. ) and we want to prepare him for that as well as possible. "