Tom Pidcock is quietly assured and dreaming huge forward of the Tour de France Grand Départ in Florence.
The Brit is coming into the race primarily focusing on stage wins, however says he’s dreaming of pulling on the chief’s yellow jersey within the opening weekend.
Talking on the Ineos Grenadiers crew resort on Wednesday, Pidcock stated that he had accepted he would wish to place his foremost normal classification goals on maintain for one more 12 months. Nevertheless, he made clear that he could be focusing on the general lead within the opening phases.
“For certain it is attainable,” Pidcock stated when requested if he backed himself to take the yellow jersey. “It is form of what I have been dreaming of this final month once I’ve been coaching arduous. There’s a whole lot of guys who will already be having the identical dream so it is not going to be simple, however we will give it an excellent shot.
“I wish to race aggressively and attempt to win some phases,” he added. “Initially I do not wish to lose time within the GC for the sake of it, but when I would like to try this as a way to obtain these objectives of successful phases then I’ll later within the race.”
Pidcock faces a busy summer time of competitors during which he will even defend the Olympic cross-country mountain gold medal that he received on the Video games in Tokyo. The Yorkshireman defined that his ambitions in Paris meant that inevitably he wanted to recalibrate his objectives on the Tour this trip.
“I believe subsequent 12 months is the primary 12 months that anybody will see what I am truly able to on GC right here,” he stated.
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Ineos Grenadiers go into this 12 months’s version with Carlos Rodríguez heading up the crew, the current winner of the Tour de Romandie, and their foremost protected GC rider. The crew additionally one other card to play within the struggle for the rostrum within the type of Egan Bernal, a former Tour winner.
“We wish to come out of this race with success and nonetheless it comes goes to learn us all,” Pidcock stated. “If we’re within the final week and preventing for the rostrum with one among these guys then we will go all in for that.
“I believe if I used to be going for GC and so had been Carlos and Egan, it is by no means simple for everyone as a result of we’re all formidable,” he added.
(Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
Pidcock’s function will likely be “a bit extra free” on the race, as he tries to go for stage wins.
“If we get a stage win, it would take the stress off slightly,” he stated. “We wish to race aggressively. How the crew raced within the Giro was good to see. That is what we wish to do right here as effectively.”
A lot has been stated earlier than the race concerning the chance of Tadej Pogačar igniting the race from the off on Saturday on the powerful mountainous stage. The Slovenian is focusing on the Giro-Tour double, a feat not achieved since Marco Pantani received each races in 1998.
Pogačar attacked on stage one on the Giro in Might on the hilly stage round Turin. However Ineos’s Jhonatan Narváez was in a position to observe the rampaging UAE Emirates rider and take the primary pink jersey of the race.
Requested if he may pull off the same feat on the Tour, Pidcock stated: “Perhaps, we’ll see.
“In fact we all know who will likely be good and who will make a distinction already. I believe UAE have been out on the course right this moment. I believe they’re going to wish to make a distinction already in the beginning of this race understanding that Jonas Vingegaard is a little bit of an unknown. I believe they’ll wish to put their playing cards on the desk early in case he comes good within the last week.”
