Perhaps the biggest difference for Pidcock between the mountain bike and the road race is the change in expectation. While the INEOS Grenadiers man was a heavy favorite to defend his mountain bike gold, the Brit is just one of many superstars competing in the road race, where he will compete against the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay and more. Still, Park remains confident that Pidcock is in the mix for what would be a third career Olympic gold.

“I think winning will give him a massive amount of confidence for the road race,” says Parks, who notes the boost not only for Pidcock himself but also for team-mates Fred Wright, Stephen Williams and Joshua Tarling. “There’s no doubt that we have to ride well as a team and everyone will be motivated. Tom’s got the legs and he’s ready for the race, so they’ll be keen to ride for him. So it should be a fantastic race.”

And as for the chance of another gold medal? “It’s possible,” Parks said. “But I think if there’s one event in cycling I wouldn’t bet on it’s the road race. Because it’s such a tough race. It’s usually a war of attrition and when the whole peloton is against you, it’s incredibly hard to win. But it’s possible. We’ll just have to see how it goes, but we’ll definitely be in it.”

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