Tom Pidcock has announced that he has returned to training following the end of his 2021 season, revealing that he's now able to ride without pain in his knee for the first time since February.
The 22-year-old made the step up from Trinity Racing to the WorldTour with Ineos Grenadiers this year. However, since starting his top-level road career, he has been suffering with a knee problem. In a post to Instagram, he revealed that his injury is now behind him as he returns to training.
"I'm back training and I can finally ride pain-free in my knee, first time since February!" he wrote. "It's amazing how much you can appreciate being healthy when you've had an injury for so long."
Pidcock went on to thank three doctors and physios - Dr Cassnova, Martin Castello, and Matthias Steenwerckx - for helping him recover from his ailment.
Despite carrying his injury for all of his 2021 season – Pidcock switched from cyclo-cross after taking fourth at the Worlds on January 13 – he has still managed to pick up a number of impressive results through the year.
He finished third and fifth at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and Strade Bianche in the early spring before taking his first pro win at Brabantse Pijl and following that up with a very narrow second place at Amstel Gold Race behind Wout van Aert, with the photo finish deciding the Belgian's victory. A sixth place at La Flèche Wallonne rounded out his spring, before his focus switched largely to the mountain bike and the Tokyo Olympics.
On the mountain bike, he took victory at the UCI World Cup cross-country round in Nové Mesto in May before breaking his collarbone after being hit by a driver while training in June.
He recovered from that setback in good time for an Olympic bid, later heading to Tokyo and beating Mathias Flückinger to take Olympic gold in late July. He rounded off his neo-pro season back on the road with a Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España before putting in an impressive ride to take sixth at the Leuven Worlds a month ago.
After spending time in the UAE and camping in the Pyrenees at the start of his off-season, Pidcock is expected to switch back to cyclo-cross towards the end of the year.
He is set to miss at least the first four rounds of the UCI World Cup as well as several rounds of the Superprestige and X2O Badkamers Trophy, so his main focus will likely be the Worlds in Fayeteville, USA, in late January.
