The two-time Olympic champion returns to Cross-country mountain biking for the first time since last year’s UCI World Championships in Andorra.
Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) has confirmed that he will be competing at this weekend’s UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup in Pal Arinsal, Andorra.
The 25-year-old last completed a mountain bike race in 2024 at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at the same venue, while his last UCI World Cup was in Crans-Montana, Valais (Switzerland) last June – where he did the XCO-XCC double.
The Brit, who lives in Andorra, spent last season building towards the Olympic Games Paris 2024 where he clinched his second gold in the Cross-country Mountain Bike event to go with his medal from Tokyo 2020.
En route to gold, he competed in two UCI World Cups last season, securing his second UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup and seventh UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup wins in his most recent race in Switzerland.
This year has had a different focus for Pidcock, who switched teams in the off-season, leaving Ineos Grenadiers for UCI ProTeam Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. He lines up in Pal Arinsal - Andorra having had a mixed 2025 on the road – winning the general and points classification at the season-opening AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia, before a winless Spring Classics campaign and top-20 finish at the Giro d’Italia. He has stated that his remaining schedule includes La Vuelta (ruling him out of this year’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Valais, Switzerland, the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, and the UCI Gravel World Championships in Maastricht, Netherlands).
Regardless of his form, he’s always a favourite and won’t be deterred from having to start towards the back of the grid this weekend – his UCI ranking meaning he won’t be eligible to race in Friday’s XCC and de facto qualifier for Sunday’s XCO.
