Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) is ready for an ambitious final weekend of the season when he makes his debut at the Il Lombardia race in Italy on Saturday and starts at the Gravel World Championships in the Netherlands on Sunday.
The Q36.5 team leader is rushing to the plane to head north after Saturday's race, where he will face Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep). The final classic of his road season is his main goal, but the chance to add a gravel world title to his already existing cyclo-cross and mountain bike cross world titles is also tempting. Pidcock would become the second rider and first man to win the elite world title in cyclo-cross, Olympic cross and gravel, joining Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
"It was a goal of mine to compete in the Gravel World Championships early on this year, but then the date was moved to the day after Lombardy," Pidcock said. "Lombardy is the priority and then I'll do as much gravel as I can. I've been given the number 1, so I've got an even bigger badge on my back. It won't be easy, but we'll definitely try."
The Gravel World Championships were originally scheduled to take place from October 18-19, but due to organizational problems, the UCI had to find a new organizer and the race will now be held on the hilly roads of Limburg in the south of the Netherlands, where the Amstel Gold Race also takes place.
"Tom wanted to end the season on a positive note and gravel feels good to him," said Q36.5 sports director Kurt Bogaerts. "They didn't make our lives easy by changing both the venue and the date, but it's also important for Tom to ride in Lombardy for the first time because it's a race that should suit him well in the future."
Reigning gravel world champion Mathieu van der Poel will not be participating this time, but the starting line-up includes European champion Mads Würtz Schmidt, former WorldTour rider Romain Bardet, former cyclo-cross rider turned top sprinter Tim Merlier, 2023 world champion Matej Mohorič, and talented classics and cyclo-cross riders such as Tim Wellens, Tibor Del Grosso, Quinten Hermans, and 2022 world champion Gianni Vermeersch.
