"I come with high ambitions": Yorkshire Olympic champion Tom Pidcock on his Giro d'Italia strategy

The 25-year-old from Leeds pilots the second-tier Swiss team Q36.5 team into uncharted territory, the Yorkshireman having raised their credibility significantly since his high-profile departure from Ineos Grenadiers over the winter.

The two-time Olympic mountain bike champion has arguably never been in better form entering a three-work grand tour, despite his headline wins on a road bike coming on Alpe d’Huez at the Tour de France and victories in Spring Classics such as Strade Bianchi and the Amstel Gold Race in recent seasons.

But this year his form has been more sustained than sporadic, with three stage wins including two in the Tour of Saudi Arabia that earned him a first stage-race general classification triumph; stand-out performances that showed his ability to lead and manage a race situation.

He might not have won a Spring Classic this season but recorded three top-10 finishes.

There is a sense that Pidcock has been released from what he felt were shackles at Ineos, and unleashed at a team that is giving him their full support.

Q36.5 needed a wildcard to get into the Giro and won’t be going to the Tour de France, meaning this three weeks around Albania and Italy is theirs, and Pidcock’s, best chance to make an impression.

Long-term, the versatile rider retains designs on competing for general classifications and the fabled jerseys they reap in grand tours, but this Giro is all about trying to win stages.

“Honestly, I’m not really interested in that,” he said of the Giro’s pink jersey.

“We’re here to pick our moments. The route looks really exciting, full of opportunities for riders like me.”

There are chances throughout this year’s race - stage 11 is similar to the Strade Bianchi he won - and he and his team will be conscious of when to pick and take their opportunities.

“I don’t want to go all-in too early,” he said. “We’ll study the route, pick our moments and try to make the most of them.”

He added: "This is my first Giro d'Italia and I am excited. Racing in Italy is always special, and I've got a lot of great memories from racing here. It's a fantastic opportunity for us as a team and we have a responsibility to show we are worthy of that opportunity.

"I come with high ambitions, and with the form I've carried from the Ardennes I know the legs will be there.”

The team he leaves behind, Ineos, have a very Yorkshire-heavy look about them nowadays, even without the fireworks Pidcock can produce.

The South Yorkshire cousins Ben and Connor Swift are still going strong, the former now 37, while Leeds youngster Sam Watson earned a win in the prologue at the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland last week; a breakout performance by the time-trial specialist.

But they have room for only one White Rose cyclist in their eight-man Giro squad, 25-year-old Ben Turner of Doncaster.

Turner, now in his fourth season with the much-changed British outfit, has emerged as a reliable domestique in grand tours.

Ineos’s performance director Dr. Scott Drawer, whose team hope to get Egan Bernal into contention for the Maglia Rosa, said: “We’ve selected a group that’s not only capable of supporting a GC challenge but also dynamic enough to take opportunities. Riders like Ben will be crucial in the key transitional stages.”