While most pros will be looking forward to a couple of months off, polymath bike racer Tom Pidcock is switching straight from the road to the mud. The former World, European and British junior cyclocross champion has assembled a compact team comprising himself, Dan Tulett, and Emily Wadsworth to take on the cyclocross season.
The eponymous TP Racing team will be competing at events across Europe and has already racked up several races since the start of the season.
At a time when many British teams have found themselves struggling or been forced to fold, the launch is a positive development.
Needing far less infrastructure than a road squad, the team has picked up Specialized bikes, Vision wheels, and Maap kit as sponsors.
Having previously ridden for Belgian team Telnet Fidea, Pidcock’s new squad is managed by London-based Trinty Sports. The company's director Andrew McQuaid also being manager of British Continental squad Team Wiggins, Pidcock’s current road team.
Reported as having signed a two-year contract with Telnet Fidea, Pidcock announced he was leaving the team in August, with the launch of TP Racing coming soon after.
With Telenet Fidea being managed by the legendary Sven Nys, and providing a home to stars Lars van der Haar and Toon Aerts, Pidcock had seemed well placed to forge a career in elite level cyclocross racing.
Despite the TP Racing squad’s ambitions, the move to set up his own team has led to some speculation that road racing might become his primary focus in coming seasons.
Pidcock had previously been linked to Trek-Segafredo, and several top-flight teams appeared interested in signing the young rider, who has expressed a desire to one day ride a Grand Tour.
Still, with each of TP Racing’s three riders being just 19 years old, all have plenty of time to decide where their respective careers lie.
Plans for the winter
Touring Europe in what looks to be a re-purposed Team Wiggins camper, the squad has so far racked up solid results with Pidcock going into the lead at the Super Prestige series in the under-23 category, and Wadsworth scoring an 11th place at Kermiscross Ardooie.
Having won the junior cyclocross Worlds two seasons ago, and the U23 World Cup series last year, Pidcock will renew his rivalry with Belgian Eli Iserbyt, the rider who looks most dangerous in the U23 category.
Currently the U23 National Cyclocross Champion, Pidcock has already lined up beside Iserbyt this year at the Telenet UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Bern, Switzerland, although a puncture put paid to his chances.
The pair will next match up this Sunday at the Super Prestige round in Ruddervoorde, Belgium.