After Thomas Pidcock dominated the Junior Men’s race at the 2017 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, we reported:
“Sven Nys of the Telenet Fidea program has had his eye on Pidcock for a while, but Pidcock has turned back those advances and wanted to push back any discussions until after the World Championships.”
It seemed like a smart decision on Pidcock’s part, as a World Champion, even if he doesn’t get to wear his rainbow-striped jersey, can command higher value on any team. We thought we were stating the obvious at the time:
Now it seems like Pidcock’s decision will pay off in more ways than one. With about 41 minutes of strenuous exercise in Bieles, Pidcock’s options are now in the money, and with some exercise of a different kind, the rising cycling star could profit by commanding a lucrative road and cyclocross spot on Nys’ teams.
However, Pidcock didn’t cash in on Cyclocross World Championship right away.
After taking an impressive Junior win at the 2017 Paris Roubaix classic, and then beating all the pro men with a solo breakaway and impressive cyclocross-style bike exchange in a circuit race (see video below), Pidcock’s meteoric rise has continued. Now Nys and the Telenet Fidea Lions cyclocross team have latched onto the young British star before he was out of reach:
Pidcock made a similar announcement with his new team’s logo:
Pidcock adds more youth to its team and fills a bunnyhopping Tom void left by Tom Meeusen joining Mathieu van der Poel’s Beobank-Corendon team.
Although the deal has been rumored to be in the works for a while, perhaps last weekend, the Brit sealed the deal with an impressive ride and bike handling display among pro men. Watch Pidcock put on a show with a smooth bike exchange to save his Tour Series win in Durham:
Hear Pidcock recall his race after his Tour Series win in Durham:
With Wout van Aert reducing his cyclocross racing schedule with an eye towards a road career, Sven Nys and Telenet Fidea are betting on the new U23 Tom Pidcock to be the next young cyclocross star to mix it up with the Elites.
