Pidcock (who is definitely not aiming for Tour GC!) reacts sharply to Netflix portrayal: "If I was the bad boy, so be it"

For months, speculation surrounded his ambitions for the general classification in the Tour de France: top five, all-in, a real test as a GC contender in a Grand Tour... It won’t be for 2024. Tom Pidcock and INEOS Grenadiers have made a 180-degree turn and are not positioning the Brit for the Tour GC. The man himself confirmed this to IDLProCycling.com during a press conference, where the much-discussed Netflix series was also brought up.

"I might have a shot at the top five there," Pidcock said in mid-May about his Tour ambitions. Sometime between that interview and the press conference on Tuesday, June 25, a change must have occurred. Because Pidcock unambiguously stated his new goals. "I want to race aggressively and win stages. I won’t lose time intentionally in the early stages, but if I need to do that later to achieve my goals and win stages, then I will. You could say we’re postponing my GC ambitions by a year. It’s hard to combine with the Olympics."

Pidcock aims to defend his Olympic mountain bike title in Paris and then make an impact on the road. For a long time, it seemed the 24-year-old all-rounder would combine that with a GC bid in the Tour, but INEOS Grenadiers has clearly hit the brakes. Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal are the leaders, and Pidcock is the free agent. "Egan, Carlos and G (Thomas, ed.) have more experience than I do as GC riders, and we can’t aim for the podium with four guys. We know how strong some competitors are, and the fact that we have four riders can work to our advantage. We want to beat them."

When this website asked him one-on-one after the press conference when the change in plans took place exactly, there was a long silence. Pidcock searched for the right words, clearly indicating that this decision wasn’t made solely by him. "When I set aside my GC ambitions is a good question. This is ultimately the best way towards the Olympics," he says. There is a promise: "Next year will be the first year where it will become clear what I can really do in the GC."

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Pidcock can hunt for stage wins, like in 2022 and 2023

In this Tour de France, we will once again see Pidcock taking on a free role, much like he had in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, he won the legendary stage to Alpe d'Huez, and last year he also went on the offensive several times. "I will certainly help the others, in various ways. We want to achieve success in this race, however it comes. If there’s a day in the last week when we can fully go for the podium with one leader, we will go all out. Everyone is ambitious, but in this role, I will be somewhat more free, and if I win a stage, it will only help the team, relieving some pressure. Everyone feels the pressure to perform, so we want to race aggressively, like we did in the Giro."

Thus, he suddenly becomes a significant contender for the yellow jersey in the opening weekend, with two tough stages to start. Pidcock is allowed to take risks. "I feel very good and know that I’m strong. Yellow in the opening weekend is possible. I’ve dreamed of it and worked hard for it in recent months. There are many guys with the same dream, so it won’t be easy. But we will certainly go for it."

"Whether my dogs already have a yellow jersey? Haha, no no. They only have jerseys that I actually wear," he continues, laughing, when confronted with his Nutsisters Chestnut and Acorn, the two dachshunds of Pidcock and his girlfriend. They were present at the World Cup mountain bike event in Switzerland last weekend when their dad won the short track and cross-country on Saturday and Sunday in Crans-Montana. They both wore rainbow jerseys, just like reigning mountain bike world champion Pidcock himself.

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"Bad boy" Pidcock and Rodriguez slam Netflix episode

Chestnut and Acorn were also seen in the Netflix series Tour de France: Unchained. However, they did not take the lead role, as it was the episodes about Pidcock that sparked discussion. He was portrayed as not riding for Rodriguez, not waiting for him, and wanting to do his own thing. This image was recently reinforced in an interview with the climber, featuring sharp quotes: "I decide how my Tour looks this year, no one else. Otherwise, you won’t get anything from me. I need the space to believe in my Tour mission. I know exactly what I want and what it takes to achieve it. That’s not always easy, but the people in my corner know how I work," he said.

When IDLProCycling.com brings up the Netflix series, the gentlemen seem to agree that the reality was not entirely accurately portrayed. "They follow us around for three weeks, so they have to make at least one episode about us. I haven’t seen it, but I heard drama was created, and it wasn’t even edited chronologically," says a fiery Pidcock. Rodriguez also had his say: "They want to make a series like that entertaining, and in doing so, they sometimes take things out of context to score extra points. Tom and I have a good relationship, and although at a certain point in the series it seemed like he didn’t want to help me, that didn’t make sense. They said he didn’t want to wait on a steep climb, but with 500 steep meters to go, help was no longer useful."

Pidcock agrees. "On that specific climb, everyone was going as hard as they could, so help made no sense. Carlos was aiming for the GC and eventually turned out to be the strongest, that’s just how it was. Lots of drama and undoubtedly an entertaining episode, and if I was the bad boy, so be it," he shrugs. Rodriguez emphasizes that his teammate ultimately did the right thing last year. "I remember that in the twentieth stage, when I crashed, Tom was in the lead group, and when I lost ground, he waited to help me. I have a good relationship with him, and I hope the new Netflix season focuses less on us."