Whereas Tom Pidcock was dominated out of the GP Québec and GP Montréal as a consequence of a concussion sustained on the Tour of Britain, his coach Kurt Bogaerts is in Canada and downplayed any concept that the Brit has main points with the staff after he publicly criticised efficiency elements at his residence race.
Piddock reportedly mentioned that Ineos Grenadiers at present “do not assist me to carry out optimally” chatting with Belgian outlet Het Laatste Nieuws after a disappointing opening 5 phases within the UK left him effectively down on GC regardless of beginning as a favorite.
Bogaerts was fast to downplay it as far more than simply frustration spilling over from a lacklustre private efficiency, with no suggestion that there are bigger points afoot for Pidcock.
“We actually did not go into it a lot. It was the Tour of Britain, with residence crowds, you are Olympic Champion, you wish to do very well, that day it did not prove the way it was and the primary on the spot, you are not pleased with that,” Bogaerts advised Cyclingnews when requested how he felt about Pidcock’s feedback.
“I feel for those who see what we have put collectively the final couple of years, we won’t complain. For me, I do not see any subject right here.”
Pidcock additionally spoke of being “mentally frazzled” on the Olympics as a result of rumours and questions on his future at Ineos Grenadiers, regardless of being contracted till 2027, nevertheless, Bogaerts appeared assured that the Brit would stay an Ineos rider for 2025.
“He has a contract till 2027, there’s some issues like Tom has a helmet of some totally different model and persons are speaking about that,” mentioned Pidcock’s coach.
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“For me, it is clear – you may have a contract till 2027, that is what I see on ProCyclingStats so for me there’s not a lot dialogue.” This echoed Pidcock’s personal phrases to HLN on the Tour of Britain: “I’ve a contract till the tip of 2027. I am unable to say extra.”
2024 was one other largely profitable season for Pidcock, in that he achieved his large aim of retaining gold within the Olympic mountain bike race at Elancourt Hill and received the Amstel Gold Race.
Nevertheless, he nonetheless did not kick on to new heights with COVID-19 an infection ruining his third Tour de France look and early season progress on the GC entrance not materialising at his key stage racing ambition.
This newest bout with concussion has additional derailed progress, forcing him to overlook the 2 one-day races in Canada which function the right warm-up for the World Championships, with the highway race arriving two weeks after Sunday’s GP Montréal on September 29. If match, he’s more likely to lead the British cost alongside the likes of Stevie Williams.
“We’re following the protocol of the UCI so I feel he feels higher each day so hopefully he can return to regular coaching quickly,” mentioned Bogaerts earlier than shedding some gentle on the incident which wasn’t caught on the TV broadcast.
“It was a crash in entrance of him from Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) and he and Ethan [Hayter] had been simply behind and crashed over this man and the helmet was touched. He had some gentle signs and we did not wish to take any dangers with that.”
However Bogaerts is assured that the younger Brit needs to be slot in time for the race in Zurich and a debut at Il Lombardia in October, additionally admitting that whereas the Tour of Britain was a failure for him, his form is near the place it must be so as to compete for wins.
“The crash is just not ultimate however the greater image is from highway Worlds to Lombaria to be actually within the sport, and I do not suppose he was far off – he was uncovered [at the Tour of Britain] and I feel it appeared worse than it truly was,” mentioned the Belgian Ineos coach and DS.
“It is quite a lot of races that go well with him however the crash is just not an excellent state of affairs, he was actually wanting ahead to those two races [in Canada]. It is key to maintain calm in eventualities like that and see the details so now with Tom, it is recovering from this harm, doing the correct issues and getting actually within the routine of driving and resting.”
