Pidcock's off-road passion makes him mountain biker to beat in Paris

Britain's Tom Pidcock spends most of his professional cycling life these days on his road bike but when he does venture off of the tarmac and grabs his mountain bike he is unstoppable.

The 24-year-old Yorkshireman, whose day job is with Ineos Grenadiers, has been described as a generational talent on two wheels and looks destined to win a Grand Tour before long.

Few who witnessed his Bastille Day victory on Alpe d'Huez in the 2022 Tour de France will forget his jaw-dropping bike-handling skills as he descended Col du Galibier like lightning.

He also won the Strade Bianche in 2023 - a race with large gravel sections which are meat and drink to Pidcock whose junior days were spent on the cyclo-cross circuit.

While road racing is often tactically complicated, a mountain bike race lets Pidcock's passion off the leash.

"It's how I enjoy racing - when you're just having fun and getting excited by it," Pidcock says. "It's difficult for me to concentrate for a full Grand Tour and be patient."

The way he obliterated a high-quality field at the Tokyo Olympics to claim cross-country gold was astonishing and it was a similar story at last year's world championships when he stormed away from Swiss great Nino Schurter.

Pidcock will ride the Tour de France this year hunting stage wins or even a podium finish before returning to Paris where he says defending his Olympic cross country title is a priority.

"My priority is mountain biking (at the Olympics) and I've made that clear to the British team," Pidcock, who will also compete in the road race, told Cycling Weekly.

His outings on the mountain bike have been limited this season, and he admits he is something of an outsider. But he underlined his class when he won the World Cup at Nove Mesto