Pidcock wins in Albstadt then rides his bike to the next World Cup

Most people would take some time to recover after winning a World Cup mountain bike race. Or at least relax and take the team bus to the next venue. Tom Pidcock decided to get right back on the bike and ride to the next race, one country over.

After winning his first World Cup of 2022 in Albstadt, Germany on Sunday, the XCO Olympic champ hopped back on his road bike and pedalled 190 km to the Czech Republic. That’s where the next World Cup XCO round takes place, at Nove Mesto, this weekend.

Pidcock’s international ride wasn’t a casual cruise, either. The Ineos rider averaged 32.7 km/h, riding solo, over six hours in the saddle from near Albstadt to across the border in Czech. Pidcock doesn’t share power or heart rate data on the activity tracking platform, but the route did add in 2,141 m of elevation gain (and a KOM) along the way.

While the nearly-200km ride isn’t your average recovery ride, it sort of makes sense in the context of Pidcock’s ambitions. The Ineos rider is one of several top racers mixing cyclocross, mountain bike and road racing. In fact, the Brit’s been quite public about his ambitions to win world championship titles in all three disciplines this year.

Pidcock’s well on his way, too. He netted his ‘cross win early in 2022 in Fayetteville. With the win in Albstadt, his mountain bike skills area clearly still as sharp as they were when he won the Tokyo Olympic XCO race last summer. Even if he can check off an XCO worlds title, and unseat the iconic Nino Schurter, Pidcock will still face stiff competition, including rival Mathieu van der Poel, at Wollongong road worlds if he wants to match (almost) Pauline Ferrand-Prevots achievement.