While many in the men's peloton head to Hungary and Italy for the Giro d'Italia, and others use May as a training block for June stage races and the Tour de France, Tom Pidcock is changing disciplines to return to mountain biking and a different route.

The 22-year-old cross-country MTB Olympic champion, who missed the chance to compete in his second career Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia, will compete in four races this month in Germany and the Czech Republic on mountain bikes.

This weekend, the second round of the UCI World Cup will be held in Albstadt, Germany, where he will compete in a short track race on Friday and a cross-country race on Sunday. Next weekend (May 13-15), a similar race is scheduled in Nove Mesto, where he won last year.

"To say the least, the Classic season has been tough with too many setbacks," Pidcock wrote on Instagram. 'Maybe this weekend's MTB World Cup will get the train back on track. Albstadt and Nove Mesto are coming up."

Last winter, Pidcock was on the Ineos Grenadier team sheet for the Giro d'Italia, and in December, Matteo Tosatto of Director Sportif, along with Richard Calapas, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Elia Viviani, were on the Corsa Rosa. suggested that they would participate.

However, five months is a long time for a professional cyclist, and Pidcock plans to switch from road biking to mountain biking this month. His trainer, Kurt Bogaerts, told Het Nieuwsblad (open in new tab) that a hard spring campaign in which Pidcock's races were interrupted by illness led him and the team to change plans.

"You have to be able to perform consistently for 21 consecutive days," Bogarts said of the Italian Grand Tour selection.

"Overall, we did better than last year, but we alternated too many good days and too many bad days. I got sick before [Strade Bianche] and Milan-San Remo didn't go well. His La Flèche Wallonne was also bad, but after a few days of rest we saw good Tom again in Liège-Bastogne-Liège"

.

In March, Ineos vice-president Rod Ellingworth told Cycling News that Pidcock could make his debut at this summer's Tour de France, and after Egan Bernal's career-changing accident in January, Geraint Thomas, Dani Martinez, Adam Yates, and Filippo Ganna, he said he would be racing alongside them.

"I don't know if he will race the Giro or the Tour this year. 'He has a big program in the spring, so we'll see how that goes. It may be too early to fully understand if he can develop into a great Grand Tour rider, but we need to keep the door open and explore all options."

Bogaerts said it is still too early to tell what will happen in July for Pidcock, who recently signed a five-year contract extension at Ineos. He plans to return to road racing in June, either in the eight-day Tour de Suisse or the shorter Route d'Occitanie.

"In the first few stages, he might get a chance," Bogarts said of the Tour.

"He should be able to support Martinez, Thomas, and Yates in the GC.

"But it's too early to talk about it; after the MTB races in May, the rebuilding will begin. In principle, he would restart with the Tour de Suisse or the Route d'Occitanie. Last year I was supposed to compete in Switzerland, but I broke my collarbone just before."