Cycling legend Schurter meets cycling phenomenon Pidcock: “When I was a kid, you were already the best”

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They are both Olympic mountain biking champions. Nino Schurter (37) triumphed in Rio in 2016, Tom Pidcock (23) won in Tokyo 2021. But the ten-time world champion from Graubünden and the British cycling superstar have never just talked to each other. Also because the all-rounder Pidcock mainly drives road races. This weekend he will start the Tour de Suisse in Einsiedeln, while Schurter will contest his home World Cup in Lenzerheide.

Blick invites the two great motorcyclists to a summit meeting. “So far we have only met on stage,” says Pidcock when he arrives at the museum café in Chur on a Saturday in May. The multi-talent from England wins the last World Cup rehearsal at the ÖKK Bike Revolution the next day and the World Cup opener in the Czech Republic seven days later.

music of the future. When Schurter has his latte macchiato in a back room and Pidcock a water in front of him, the hype of the racecourse is far away. Two champions get to know each other in a whole new way.

Pidcock: I’ll start with the most important question. Where’s your helicopter?

Schurter: (laughs) Unfortunately, I don’t have one myself.

Pidcock: But can you fly?

Schurter: Yes, I can take you on a scenic flight and show you the Swiss mountains from above. If you dare to enter.

Pidcock: Please next time.

Schurter: By the way, thank you for being there in Chur (Schurter is co-organizer of the Bike Revolution, ed.). It is a special race, which mainly takes place in the city and not in nature.

Pidock: Is that why there are so many kids’ races here?

Schurter: Yes, the city is ideal for this. My daughter was there too.

Pidcock: Are you sure you won?

Schurter: (laughs) No, she was just happy when she crossed the finish line. They don’t care if they are first or not.

Blick: Tom, you were a kid when Nino was already in the World Cup.

Pidcock: As a kid I raced on the road, but around 2012 I watched a lot of mountain biking on Youtube. Nino, you were already the GOAT back then.

Schurter: Thanks, that’s nice to hear.

Pidcock: I didn’t know many other bikers besides you.

Schurter: Thinking back to 2012 I had a hardtail (no rear suspension, ed.) with small 26 inch tires. Driving on a circuit like Nove Mesto is almost impossible to imagine.

Pidock: And today they even gild your bike!

Schurter: (laughs) It’s really cool to get a model like that. On my current bike, Sram even has all ten world championships engraved on individual chain links.

You are both Olympic champions. Who is more famous at home?

Pidcock: When I came back from Tokyo, it was already a problem. Great Britain had won 22 gold medals. But I was part of Golden Monday, there were three golds in one day. I realized that the Olympic Games are very important to the public. Unlike medals at the World Cycling Championships, only insiders are interested in this.

Schurter: Olympic gold is forever. In addition, Swiss gold medals at the Summer Games are exceptional.

How much do you follow each other?

Schurter: I like to watch a street race with you or with Mathieu van der Poel, whom I know very well as an opponent. Your victory on the Strade Bianche was very cool. You could tell your mountain biking skills helped you there.

Pidcock: Thank you. I agree with that. I was able to open the gap downhill on gravel, because you could have fallen hard there. I watch all the races in the Mountain Bike World Cup.

Schurter: What is actually your favorite discipline?

Pidcock: In any case, it is not cyclocross because I have to train there a lot before I am fast again. If I had to choose between mountain biking and the road, it would be the road.

Schurter: I am very impressed with how you juggle everything.

Pidcock: I don’t change departments every week. Cycling in the winter, then on the road all spring. Well, there was a block of mountain bikes in May, before the tours come in June.

Schurter: You have an intense life. As a father, I can’t imagine that.

Pidcock: I could certainly make it easier on myself (laughs). But I feel like I’m benefiting from the hard work in cyclocross in the road season.

Nino, the Olympic cycling champion, stirs up street sport together with Tom. Was the transition never a problem for you?

Schurter: I grew up with mountain bikes and was able to celebrate successes at a young age. I never did road races as a kid. In addition, changes in the past were generally not an issue.

Pidcock: It used to be less accepted. The road teams wouldn’t even let their riders mountain bike. And vice versa.

Schurter: Good point. In 2014 I got the chance to ride the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse. I felt a lot of disgust in the field. People snapped at me: what are you doing here? That has changed a lot. But two worlds remained.

Pidcock: Absolute. On the street, the teams keep more to themselves, there is more pressure. It’s about more money. It is more familiar on a mountain bike. It’s the more beautiful world.

Schurter: Which cycling races are you doing this season?

Pidcock: Next is the FIFA World Cup in August. Then the World Cup in Andorra and possibly the two in North America at the end of the season.

Will you compete for medals at the World Championships in Glasgow and Paris in 2024?

Schurter: Hopefully at the World Cup. Paris only makes sense to me if I really feel like I can be on top again.

Pidcock: How many world titles do you have already?

Schurter: Ten, plus two U23s and one junior.

Pidcock: ok wow Glasgow will be great for sure. I can also do the road race because it takes place behind the bike.

Source : Blick