History beckons cycling great Tom Pidcock on Sunday (27 September).
He couldn’t be more relaxed about it.
The British star is eyeing an historic feat after claiming the mountain bike cross-country title a few weeks ago in Italy, as he looks to become the first man to hold that title and the road cycling rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships 2026 in Montréal, Canada.
“Regardless of everything else, becoming road world champion would be something that would be truly amazing in my career,” Pidcock said in a media roundtable call on Tuesday (22 September).
“It’s going to be so hard to win,” he added.
But it could mark a golden opportunity for the 27-year-old, too, with two-time and reigning road race world champion Tadej Pogačar absent from the men’s entry list following an unfortunate crash at the 2026 Vuelta a España.
“I think this is my best opportunity so far in my career, that’s for sure,” Pidcock said from his training stop in Boulder, Colorado, set to fly to Montréal on Thursday (24 September).
“Having said that, I think the depth is so deep [that] my name’s [not] still on the podium yet,” he continued. “I think it’s quite an open race and… it’s my best shot so far.”
A versatile cyclist, Pidcock’s mountain bike triumph was his second in that discipline after taking the world title at Glasgow 2023. He’s the two-time and reigning Olympic champion in that event, too, winning in both Tokyo 2020 in 2021 and Paris 2024.
Previously, only France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won in both mountain cross-country and cycling road in the same year, the female cyclist doing so in 2015.