11 months ago, Tom Pidcock said he wanted to "prove himself" as a Tour de France GC rider. However, after revealing that he was "saying what everyone wanted to hear" when he set that goal publicly, the tour was truly about the Brit's total for 2025

after a long, multi-goal, but once again successful 2024 season, Pidcock made his comments on the stage at Rouleur Live. We have reconsidered.

Pidcock won the Amstel Gold Race, but after a disappointing 2 weeks of racing and a painful 2nd place in the Gravel stage, he abandoned the tour due to COVID-19. He bounced back in spectacular style by defending his mountain bike gold medal from Tokyo in thrilling fashion.

Now that that goal has been achieved and the next 4-year Olympic cycle has not yet begun, there is room to concentrate on the road.Pidcock has already admitted that cyclocross and mountain bikes may have to take a back seat to reach full road potential.

He still wants to prove himself as a road rider, which is constant in his comments towards the end of the season. 

"Sure, the Olympic cycle is four years, so I definitely think the next two years will allow Tom to explore his limits on the road and how far he can get

"He can score in the classic and can score in the grand Tour" and more importantly, "He will mentally have more space for it" without the promise of off-road.  

"I don't say completely no to off-road, but it's also realistic that Tom doesn't know the limits of his road so he tries to be the best possible on the road and we've also never made the ideal preparation.

Still Pidcock focused on the th Classic when asked by broadcaster Matt Stevens about his goals for 2025, not to mention another attack on the tour. 

"I think I lost that kind of ability - sprint, the speed I had maybe two to three years ago, and that's what I want to try again," he said next year

"My favorite race is the one-day race, the classic, and has not yet won the monument." That's where I want to focus.

The Brit spoke openly about how he didn't enjoy his past 2022 appearances on the tour because he didn't progress from 16th place overall with a victory on stage during the Maiden Tour.2 

"My first year on the tour was great, I won the stage, G (Geraint Thomas) was on the podium, it was great. And for the last 2 years, to be honest, I haven't really enjoyed it," he admitted.  "I need to try and reaffirm that feeling I had."

Bogartz is adamant that the cycling world has yet to see what Pidcock can do perfectly in the 3-week race, but admits that he hasn't gotten the same level of results as the few superstars who dominate most of the calendar victories.

"I still think he can be really, really good on the road. And at the same time, he's 25 years old, and if you look at his Palmares off-road and road, there are some great victories he has had," Bogartz said. 

"He hasn't won the amount of money as Poganyar or even Paul, but I think many 25-year-olds want what Tom put together at the moment. I am a very real person and very positive about this and for me, he is more than reaching his goal. 

"We still have some cramps and we haven't seen the ultimate performance on the Grand Tour yet. He was 13th on the tour last year, I don't think it's his best at the moment, I think there was more in him, but the situation wasn't there yet."

Before Pidcock's future at Ineos was in doubt towards the end of the season and Brit revealed his dissatisfaction with the tour, Bogaerts was confident that the 2025 race would be an important race for how his riders developed.

"When he did his first Tour de France, he tasted what TDF was. He won a really great stage Alp Duez and he really wants something like that," the Belgian coach said. 

"Tom is a very honest person and we see that he has a strong opponent at the moment and we have identified the limits of GC and what we get from this race that was finally prepared.

"The tour is an important goal for Tom and it is one of the biggest races and Tom definitely wants to play a role there. This is because it is. Even this year, he wasn't far from winning the stage, maybe he already had COVID-19, but he was still 2nd in the gravel stage, it's quickly forgotten, so Tom certainly has ambitions in this race and climb as well. 

"I don't think there are any restrictions at the moment for Tom, but we need to see how next year will go and it will be a significant year."

Tom Pidcock is set to ride the Ineos Grenadier in 2025 after his transfer Sage is over. Whether he will be on the 7・man Tour de France roster coming on May 8 is yet to be confirmed.