{"id":179547,"date":"2025-06-12T22:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/179547\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T22:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:59:11","slug":"road-racing-is-more-dangerous-than-mountain-biking-says-tom-pidcock-as-fans-say-thats-common-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/179547\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRoad racing is more dangerous than mountain biking,\u201d says Tom Pidcock \u2013 as fans say \u201cthat\u2019s common sense!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mathieu van der Poel\u2019s crash at a UCI mountain bike World Cup race last month<\/a> \u2013 which saw the Dutch star spectacularly faceplant the ground after misjudging a section of pump track, breaking his wrist in the process \u2013 may have (briefly) placed his upcoming appearance at the Tour de France in jeopardy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But according to his multidisciplinary rival, Tom Pidcock, racing on the road remains a lot more dangerous than plunging through a forest at breakneck speed on knobbly tyres.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking on Red Bull\u2019s Just Ride podcast<\/a>, the double Olympic mountain bike champion \u2013 famed for his daredevil descending and bike handling skills on a range of different bikes \u2013 argued that the chaotic nature of riding in a large peloton, compared to the relative control of off-road, makes his day job a more consistently dangerous prospect.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Pidcock, 2024 Olympic mountain bike cross-country (Zac Williams\/SWpix.com) (credit: road.cc)<\/p>\n

When asked whether he\u2019d once again target the cross-country MTB event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, in an attempt to win his third consecutive gold in the discipline, Pidcock told the podcast: \u201cI\u2019ve got more chance in mountain biking than I do on the road! On the road, there are 20 guys who are able to win, but in mountain biking, by the Olympics, there are around three there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd mountain biking falls more consistently into place than on the road. I feel like more can go wrong in a road race, even if you think about it, mountain bike mechanicals are more likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrashing is not more likely, I don\u2019t agree with that,\u201d he continued. \u201cIn mountain biking, you\u2019re more in control of yourself. Whereas on the road, you\u2019ve got 150 blokes you\u2019re relying on not to make you crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say road racing is more dangerous than mountain biking.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Mathieu van der Poel\u2019s Tour de France in doubt after suffering broken wrist and ligament damage in double crash at mountain bike World Cup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it is, you\u2019re going downhill at 80mph with no protection,\u201d interjected the podcast\u2019s co-host, former professional downhill mountain biker Rob Warner.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing!\u201d laughed Pidcock. \u201cI guess it\u2019s more finite, the tyres are smaller, the grip is smaller.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one time in Mallorca, with some friends, we were going down Lluc, down towards Pollenca. And I swear, every corner, we were Moto GP-style sliding. That was probably the most on the limit I\u2019ve been on a descent!\u201d<\/p>\n

Which, considering his spectacular, rocket-fuelled descent of the Col du Galibier at the 2022 Tour de France, on his way to winning atop Alpe d\u2019Huez, that\u2019s saying something.<\/p>\n

\"20222022 TdF Tom Pidcock ineos descending stage 12 CORVOS SWpix (credit: road.cc)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on Instagram, Pidcock\u2019s assertion that road racing is more dangerous than his MTB side hustle has been met with almost unanimous agreement, with many fans commenting that the Q36.5 leader was essentially stating the obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgreed. My crashes on my MTB are just cuts and bruises while still being able to ride. Whereas on the road bike crashes leave me hospitalised for weeks and off the bike for months,\u201d wrote Casimir.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve crashed hard with my downhill bike, that does hurt \u2013 hitting trees, getting concussion,\u201d added Steven. \u201cBut now I ride more road and riding downhill scares me. Things can go wrong so fast and then there\u2019s traffic as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0How Fast!? We take a look at Tom Pidcock’s Alpe d’Huez conquering Strava file<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWout, Remco, Jonas\u2026 just to name a few recent ones,\u201d said Adam. \u201cRoad cycling\u2019s biggest stars regularly get the kind of gruesome injuries requiring lengthy hospital stays, which will impact them the rest of their lives. It\u2019s almost guaranteed to happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others, meanwhile, focused on the protection afforded to mountain bikers compared to their roadie counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorrect, naked on the tarmac is not safe at all,\u201d said another Instagram user, while Matt added: \u201cMakes me shiver thinking about road bikers falling off basically naked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMTB bikes are also more forgiving,\u201d argued Mo. \u201cThey allow you more mistakes and control; geometry, wheels, brakes. Road bikes are just pure speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, Greg asked: \u201cWould\u2019ve thought this would be common sense?\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Tom Pidcock flies over barriers in \u201cstupid crash\u201d while leading cyclocross race<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, not everyone was in agreement with Pidcock. Mountain biker Brody dismissed the peloton\u2019s habitual road rash from crashes as mere \u201cscratches\u201d, while Juan Miguel claimed that the British star was simply referencing cross-country mountain biking, arguing that \u201ca downhill or enduro crash will be worse\u201d than one on the road.<\/p>\n

Of course, his appearance on Red Bull\u2019s Just Ride podcast isn\u2019t the first time that Pidcock has publicly discussed the inherent dangers of riding on the road.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Pidcock, 2025 Giro d’Italia (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

Back in 2022, he told the BBC that it is now too dangerous for professional cyclists to train on time trial bikes<\/a> on public roads because of the riding position involved, in the wake of then-teammate Egan Bernal\u2019s horrific training crash<\/a> into a back of a bus in Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cPositions are getting more and more extreme and we spend more time trying to hold these positions,\u201d the Yorkshire-born rider said. \u201cYou don’t necessarily see where you’re going.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested that ways could be found to adapt training to remove the risks encountered when riding on roads shared with motor traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s evident now where it’s getting quite dangerous,\u201d he continued. \u201cI don’t think we need to stop progressing, but think about how we can train in a safer way and try and mitigate these crashes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Pidcock, Colle delle Finestre, 2025 Giro d\u2019Italia (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

In any case, setting aside the comparative dangers of cycling\u2019s different disciplines, Pidcock was also asked during this week\u2019s podcast appearance about his current focus on the road after joining Q36.5 Pro Cycling from Ineos last winter<\/a>, and whether he had set aside cyclocross and mountain biking for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s not been set aside,\u201d the 25-year-old former cyclocross world champion said. \u201cI\u2019ve joined this team and we\u2019re building it together. I need to race on the road and we need to get into the biggest races.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s not like I\u2019m sacrificing the other [disciplines] for it, it\u2019s just what I\u2019m focusing on.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cIneos tried to fit a square peg in a round hole\u201d: Tom Pidcock\u2019s new teammate Rory Townsend on how \u201cmaverick\u201d Olympic champ has lifted Q36.5 and why transfer saga \u201cstressed me more than my own contract\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Pidcock was also asked about his recent performance at the Giro d\u2019Italia, his first grand tour in a sole leadership role for Q36.5.<\/p>\n

After a superb start to life in the Swiss second-tier team\u2019s colours following his much-discussed transfer from the Ineos Grenadiers, Pidcock entered the Giro with lofty ambitions, including finishing in the top 10 on GC in Rome.<\/p>\n

However, things never quite clicked for the double Olympic mountain bike champion on the roads of Italy, however, as he failed to convert three top five placings into a stage win, while troubles on the race\u2019s decisive climbs in the Alps saw him drop to 16th on GC, almost 45 minutes down on winner Simon Yates.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Pidcock insisted that the Giro remained a valuable learning experience for both himself and the team, especially when it comes to focusing on a GC target for three weeks.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Pidcock, 2025 Giro d’Italia (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably my best level ever,\u201d he told the podcast. \u201cBut we had some bad luck, I didn\u2019t get a stage win. And GC was always going to optimistic, with other focuses at the start of the year, one-day races, not as many altitude camps. But in general, I was really happy with it, for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made it to stage 19 before I had a bad day \u2013 I didn\u2019t have a bad day, I tried to get in the breakaway, but it was the first really hot day, 32 degrees, then I blew up. But I made it that long, focusing full time. And I was really proud of myself for concentrating so long.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mathieu van der Poel\u2019s crash at a UCI mountain bike World Cup race last month \u2013 which saw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-179547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114672878707185066","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}