Odd one out: Why on earth is Tom Pidcock doing a mountain biking race right before the Tour?

The Tour de France peloton is pretty much unanimously opting for altitude training (or the national championships) in between preparatory races and the three-week grand tour, but one man is taking a completely different approach. Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) will compete in the Mountain Bike World Cup in Crans Montana this coming weekend. How and why? In this article, he tells IDLProCycling.com all about it, as does his coach Kurt Bogaerts.

First, let's talk about the Tour of Switzerland, which Pidcock finished strong. On the penultimate day, he and his team, INEOS Grenadiers, set the pace for Egan Bernal. "We wanted to make it tough for the other teams and not just follow along. I look back positively on the Tour of Switzerland. It's quite crazy how fast the climbing is here. But I'm happy with where I stand, looking at my power and such. I shouldn't expect miracles from myself, so I've gained confidence heading into the rest of the summer."

The closing time trial also contributed to this confidence, according to the Brit. "It was my best result in a time trial since turning pro, so I'm very happy with that. I've gotten better every day over the past week. My start wasn't good, because I came here straight from altitude. But after eight days, I feel good, which pleases me especially since we had four or five tough mountain stages. Now I'm going to Crans Montana, so I'm staying in Switzerland to prepare for the Tour with the Mountain Bike World Cup as a race in between," said Pidcock, who is clearly looking forward to that race.

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Coach Bogaerts: "Mountain biking a nice transition between Switzerland and the Tour"

Coach Bogaerts doesn't want to get ahead of himself. "We're moving from the Tour of Switzerland to Crans Montana, but that means we're currently focusing on one race at a time. After that, it's time for the Tour, so we'll see what the team's plans are at that time. We've performed well in the Dauphiné and Tour of Switzerland, so I think we should continue on this trajectory as a team," said the Flemish coach.

But why have Pidcock switch bikes and do mountain biking right before the Tour? "The Mountain Bike World Cup serves as a nice transition between the Tour of Switzerland and the Tour de France, especially with the first stages there. This way, we can further sharpen our explosiveness on the mountain bike and make sure we don't come to a standstill. For Tom, it's a good way to maintain focus in a way he likes, but at the same time, we can also continue to build up to the Tour in a very professional way," Bogaerts explains.

Variety, then. Which has also been plenty in the earlier part of the preparations. "We've trained on a combination of longer and shorter climbs. That means we want to be explosive on one hand, but also think about the longer efforts. So far, we see that it works. The progression is visible when we compare this year's Tour of Switzerland with last year's," he says, sounding cheerful.

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Can we infer from this that the Brit might be aiming for the first yellow jersey? "Tom is very versatile, so those first two stages of the Tour fit his profile. But that also applies to the fourth stage and many other days by extension. Let's take it day by day, as we have done in the recent races as a team. The team management dares to take initiative and expresses confidence in the riders. Daring, that's important," Bogaerts says.

In last year's Netflix series about the Tour, Pidcock was portrayed as someone who primarily follows his own plan. Bogaerts doesn't watch it but doesn't agree with the way Netflix portrayed his rider. "Tom also did good work for Egan in Switzerland, so he's having fun. The atmosphere in the team is good, and we see that in the evening at the table as well: the guys stay and sit around after dinner for a long time. Guys like Brandon Rivera and Ethan Hayter are exceeding themselves, and it's nice to see how all those guys grow together. And seeing how far Egan has come… Inspiring, it really is," he says, speaking highly of his team.

The mood at INEOS is certainly good, Bogaerts notes in full preparation for the Tour. "The progression is there, and we are well trained, but we have to see how that pays off in the Tour. We've certainly had a good Tour of Switzerland, but the Dauphiné with Carlos Rodriguez and the Giro with Geraint Thomas went very well too. The flow is there, and we should draw motivation from that."

The fact that the top favorites for the Tour don't come from the INEOS camp doesn't worry them. "We're going for victories, but are also working with young guys. Geraint won the Tour when he was 30, Chris won his first I think at 28... Then when we see how Tom, Carlos and also Egan are riding now, we are aware of that. Other people might forget that sometimes, but we focus on ourselves."