Tom Pidcock will not defend his title at the 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, his coach Kurt Bogerts confirmed on Sporza during the GP Sven Nys broadcast.

"Tom will not compete in the World Championships. We decided a while ago. 'I'm aiming for a good campaign during the Spring Classics. The World Championships will get in the way of that."

The British rider pointed to the late World Championships dates and his ambitions for the Road Spring Classics before launching his winter cyclo-cross campaign in November, suggesting that.

"The World Championships are very late this time. If you have to peak for this championship and then prepare for the classics," Pidcock told Het Nieuwsblad in November.

The 23-year-old Pidcock ended his 2022 road season early, citing mental fatigue after a successful season that included a spectacular victory in the Tour de France's L'Alpe d'Huez.

Pidcock started his "cross" season earlier than his "Big 3" rivals, Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van Der Pol, who will be competing in the Rainbow Band competition on February 5 in Hogelheide.

"I've known for a while that I wasn't going to ride. I've been deciding for a while," Pidcock said in a post-race interview at the GP Sven Nys on New Year's Day.

Van Aert and Van Der Pol skipped the 2022 World Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Van Art chose not to go to the US to prepare for the Classic. This strategy paid off with wins at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, and podium finishes at Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Van der Pol spent the spring recovering from a back injury, but he won the Milan-San Remo with a podium finish and the Tour of Flanders with Dwar de Hlaanderen.

In contrast, Pidcock led his team to a successful spring campaign, but his only podium finish was third in Omloop-Het Niusbrod. He aims to change that in 2023.

"The road season is very important to me," he said. 'In 2023 I want to be consistent, especially in the spring monuments. If I succeed, the results will follow. If we put everything in front of us, we will have more options."