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Cycling
Tom Pidcock: From multi-discipline star to Grand Tour podium finisher
The Brit has wins in road, cyclocross and cross-country, and is aiming for even more. It’s not just about winning though; Pidcock’s panache makes him one of the sport’s most entertaining talents.
Tom Pidcock has won a lot in what is already a stellar, multi-discipline career, but, perhaps surprisingly, it's a third-place finish that he sees as his personal pinnacle to date. “I think it's my greatest achievement in my career," he said, reflecting on his hard-earned podium finish at 2025's Vuelta a España. "Maybe not the biggest victory, because there are some very special ones. I'm just so exhausted, I can't find the words for it."
It is, of course, only really a surprising statement when taken out of context. Pidcock's third place at the last of the year's Grand Tours was the first from a British rider at the Spanish race since 2020 and the first tangible proof that the Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider has what it takes to challenge consistently at the top of the GC.
When we say he's won 'a lot' by the way, it's important to be clear that his palmares include two Olympic gold medals on the mountain bike; a Tour de France stage win on the road (Alpe d'Huez no less); World Championship rainbow jerseys in mountain bike and cyclo-cross; and at the Arctic Race of Norway, a record-breaking climb that was one of the best performances of the 21st Century so far.
Raised in Yorkshire, UK, and now based in Andorra, the British multi-discipline cyclist cut his teeth on the track and in cyclo-cross before making a name for himself both on and off-road. Never one to stay in a single lane, Pidcock’s race schedule still sees him compete across all three formats, and wherever he lines up, he’s often a favourite for the win.
The new team leader of Q36.5
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
The switch from Ineos Grenadiers to Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team from 2025 came with an increase in responsibility – Pidcock is the Swiss outfit’s team leader – and he has got off to a winning start with his new team, winning the general classification and points jersey at the AlUla Tour on the road in January, and at Pal Arinsal, Andorra’s mountain bike cross-country (XCO) UCI World Cup in July. And with his second La Vuelta Grand Tour and an elusive UCI Road World Championship on his agenda before the end of the season, there are still plenty of opportunities for more success.
It's one race, one win for Tom Pidcock in the 2025 World Cup
© WBD Sports/WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series/Red Bull Content Pool
Here’s how Pidcock has got to where he is, and how his approach to riding will help him achieve a career unlike any other.
01
How starting out slow helped Pidcock to dominate in multiple disciplines
Pidcock’s passion for all things two-wheeled stems from his mum and dad, who were keen cyclists themselves. “They didn't push me, they just encouraged me when it was needed; they got the balance right.”
Tom's never been afraid to mix it with those much older than himself
© Tom Pidcock
Local weekend café club rides were followed by racing, but he admits he wasn’t “getting good” until he was in the Under-16 ranks. In his second year as a Junior, he won his first cyclo-cross UCI World Cup, European and World Championship, while on the road, he claimed the Junior edition of the prestigious Paris-Roubaix. But while he was hyped up as a future Tour de France champion, Pidcock was happy to take a more measured approach.
“There was no rush to be a WorldTour rider and I'm not in the game to be the youngest Tour de France winner, or the youngest this or that. To me, that's quite irrelevant; it's about what you've achieved at the end of your career."
He's won junior and U-23 world championships in four different disciplines
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
He adds that he's someone who has developed slowly and it seems that not rushing through his career or pushing too hard during his younger years has paid dividends. "I've always learned to win races through other ways, not by being the strongest, because I was always the smallest and least developed. I guess I still am. I'm taking my time to get the full potential out of myself."
It takes a huge amount of confidence to tread your own path at your own pace, but Pidcock has a mature head on those young shoulders. His approach is working too and since turning pro in 2021, his elite-level achievements are a roll call of remarkable results: UCI Cyclocross World Champion (2022); Olympic Mountain Bike XC gold (2024 and 2021), UCI Mountain Bike XCO World Champion (2023), eight UCI Mountain Bike XCO World Cups; Tour de France stage win (2022), Stade Bianche (2023), Amstel Gold Race (2024), AlUla Tour overall and points (2025).
02
How variety helps to build his physical and mental strength
Pidcock clearly has the physical attributes required to compete at the top level across the three disciplines, but they’re paired with a mental outlook where he constantly seeks his next challenge.
“When I won [the Junior Cyclo-cross World Championship in 2017], which was my biggest goal of my life up until that point, I fell off a cliff because I had nothing else to aim for,” he said in an interview with The Red Bulletin. “I realised you can’t be so into highs and lows – it’s not healthy. You need to be more on a plateau. Of course big goals are big, but there always needs to be something afterwards. Otherwise, what next?”
Tom (left) celebrating his first big Junior win
© Tom Pidcock
It’s part of the reason why he switches between the three disciplines, racing cyclocross during the winter, and switching to the road for spring and summer, with a smattering of MTB races in between.
“I like to combine them all, because they bring different skills and keep me feeling fresh,” he explained. “Being an elite athlete, everything is usually about repetition, so the variety is great. And it makes you a more rounded rider.
“I need something new all the time. Now, I can train for a month, staying in the same hotel, or train in an altitude room [at home], and I can commit… But I’ve not yet built up the ability to commit to six months of something. I enjoy being able to get on a mountain bike, not train [specifically], and then win. I like being that outsider, that guy who’s not really a mountain biker but is quite good at it.”
03
His viral bike-handling skills make him a unique prospect
If the variety in his training and racing didn’t already make him an incredibly unique prospect, then his bike-handling skills definitely do.
Tom Pidcock battles Wout Van Aert in Stage Two of the Tour de France 2023
© POOL BERNARD PAPON/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images
At 170cm (5ft 7in) and 58kg, he has a physique that’s ideal for Alpine climbs and long days on the road, but his off-road-honed descending abilities mean he downhills can become a point of attack too. This was highlighted best during his debut Tour de France in 2022, when he won stage 12 (Briançon to L’Alpe d’Huez) by getting into the breakaway with a mind-bending plunge down the Col de la Croix de Fer that saw him reach speeds of 100.8kph and undertake slower competitors on the twisting mountain road, before riding away from a group of rivals including four-time winner Chris Froome on the iconic L’Alpe d’Huez climb to claim his first stage victory.
It doesn’t need to be a race for Tom Pidcock’s descending skills to be on display either. His 2023 appearance on YouTube creator SAFA Brian’s channel went viral as the Brit took on the Tuna Canyon descent in Los Angeles, hitting speeds of 86.7kph and almost slipping on an oil slick. He took things even further in 2025 Red Bull project, descending the Rossfeld Panoramastrasse mountain pass on the Austria-Germany border, and reaching almost 100kph, cementing his place as the best descender of his generation.
Tom Pidcock puts on another descending masterclass
© Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
04
What’s next for the rider who has won everything he’s set his mind to?
Tom Pidcock’s bike shed is packed full of race-ready machines, but his Pinarello Dogma XC mountain bike won’t be seeing the race tapes again this season.
Instead, Pidcock will be using his Scott Addict RC and Scott Foil RC road bikes for the remainder of 2025, which still include the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda.
Tom Pidcock is spending more time on his road bike
© Charly López/Red Bull Content Pool
Given his recent performance at the Arctic Race of Norway, where he finished second in the general classification and recorded the best short-climb effort of the 21st Century – averaging 7.91 W/kg for 8:16 minutes – Pidcock is clearly in the form of his life and will be targetting results at Spain’s mountain-heavy Grand Tour and Africa’s first world championships.
