'Amazing' Tom Pidcock will be 'force to be reckoned with' for Ineos this season - Bradley Wiggins

Updated 01/03/2022 at 11:19 GMT

Bradley Wiggins has no doubt that his compatriot, Tom Pidcock, is set to make a big statement this season. Speaking on the first episode in the new season of the Bradley Wiggins Show podcast for Eurosport, the British cycling legend spoke of the maturity shown in abundance by the 22-year-old. "He is going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. He has got a very old head on his shoulders."

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British rising cycling star Tom Pidcock is going to be a "force to be reckoned with" in 2022, according to Bradley Wiggins, who was speaking in his latest Eurosport podcast.

The Bradley Wiggins Show has returned for the first time this year with a bumper episode previewing all the top action coming your way across the season, and the British cycling legend was joined by Matt Stephens and Orla Chennaoui.

Pidcock became the first Brit to win the Cyclo-cross World Championship at elite level in January and sailed over the line in style with a superman celebration as he further underlined his enormous talent and potential across the sport.

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Wiggins believes the mature 22-year-old is capable of making a huge statement this season following his gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the cross-country mountain biking event and joining Ineos from 2021.

"He is amazing, isn't he," Wiggins said on the podcast.

"Obviously he has moved on now from his Olympic title and the Vuelta a Espana he rode.

"He is going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. He has got a very old head on his shoulders, hasn't he."

Stephens agreed: "I definitely think so, and what I do like as well, is the fact that Ineos are giving him the opportunity and the space to almost come up with his own programme.

"He is still a very young man. He knows what he wants. He is so ridiculously talented. He is building up to the classics, and he is going to be in the mix without a shadow of a doubt."

Listen to The Bradley Wiggins Show podcast

Chennaoui also shared her thoughts on the Brit: "Superman! He is showing now that he is having fun and he wants to bring a bit of a show to things.

"The superman pose across the finish line was just beautiful because it shows he is excited by winning and he has an appetite and a greed for it, which I like."

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Turning his thoughts to his friend and former team-mate Mark Cavendish, Wiggins was full of praise once more for another legendary British rider looking to make more history this season.

"Another superstar, Mark Cavendish, he is already winning this year," Wiggins said.

"He has picked up where he left off last year, which is fantastic for us, and he has hit the deck again.

"If Cav does do the Giro - which starts in Budapest - or the Tour - which starts in Copenhagen, which will be great for Mark because he loves Copenhagen - you would not put it past him to go one better than Eddy Merckx and beat that record."

The trio also looked ahead to the season by previewing the prospects of Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas and many other riders, while also paying tribute to the retiring British track cycling legend Jason Kenny.