TOM PIDCOCK will not let anyone else tell him what a successful Tour de France will look like this summer.

Pidcock’s stage win on the Alpe d’Huez defined his Tour debut in 2022, but last summer he cited the lack of a clear goal after fading in the second half of the gruelling 21-stage race, finishing 13th overall.

The Olympic mountain bike champion aims to one day win the Tour, but that ambition is some way off for a rider who admits right now he is built for one-day racing, not targeting the general classification in major stage races.

So what would a good Tour look like?

“I am going to decide what I want my Tour to be this year,” Pidcock told the PA news agency. “Nobody else. Otherwise you don’t get anything from me. I need to be able to believe in my mission at the Tour.

“I completely understand where I want to be and what I need to do to achieve it. It’s not always simple but the people in my corner, they know how I work.”

After a break from racing since April, Pidcock returned to win the Mountain Bike World Cup race in Nove Mesto for the fourth straight year a little over a week ago. He will be back on the road at the Tour de Suisse starting this Sunday.

That is preparation for the Tour, where he is due to join former winners Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, plus Carlos Rodriguez, fifth last year, in a powerful Ineos Grenadiers squad facing up to defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and the irrepressible Tadej Pogacar.

Thomas just rode to third place at the Giro d’Italia, turning 38 midway through the race. Luke Rowe, another rider who has been with the team for more than a decade, will retire at the end of the season.

“I think the team is going through a big transition period,” Pidcock said. “And you do notice that … It’s strange that some of these guys are soon not going to be here anymore. That is weird …

“It’s nice to have their experience. But I’ve realised I need to gain that experience in their outlook on things and not just leave it to other people.”