Tom Pidcock suffers illness two weeks before Olympic Games
Defending Olympic MTB champion departs Tour de France with Covid-19 symptoms
Tom Pidcock did not start stage 14 of the Tour de France Saturday due to Covid-19 symptoms. The Ineos-Grenadier rider leaves the grand tour with illness just over two weeks before the Olympic Games, where he will seek to race to another gold medal after winning the race in Tokyo three years ago.
"Tom is experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 and under advice from our medical team will now return home to recover,” read a statement from the Ineos team. The official word has been that Pidcock has Covid-19 “symptoms,” however it is widely believed that he may actually be sick with the virus. Ineos rider Geraint Thomas has tested positive for Covid-19 but remains in the tour, and there have been reports of Covid and other illnesses circulating through the race.
A Covid-19 infection is a major setback for Pidcock, who has built his season around earning another gold medal at the Paris games. While it may not be as bad as an injury that could leave an athlete sidelined at the games, it’s still bad news.
Pidcock rode to gold at the Tokyo Olympic MTB race, which was further confirmation that the multi-disciplinary rider can still ride to big wins on the mountain bike while also racing on the road and in cyclocross during the winter.
This year, he began his World Cup mountain bike campaign at Nové Město where he bagged the win against the likes of Nino Schurter and Marcel Guerrini. He then raced at the Crans-Montana round, mastering an extremely challenging muddy course for another victory ahead of Mathias Flückiger and Luca Braidot.
Racing the Tour de France ahead of racing MTB at the Olympics was already an unconventional preparation, and the illness is certainly unwelcome news for the athlete.
A previous Tour de France stage winner, Pidcock had not found the top spot of the podium yet this year, though the did come close with a second-place behind Anthony Turgis on the exciting and gravel-filled stage 9.
Time will tell if Pidcock can recover in time to mount a golden heist in Paris.
The Ryan MTB Blog will continue to monitor this story. Stay tuned and subscribe for more news and analysis ahead of the Olympic Games.