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Roadie Tom Pidcock And MTB Rider Jolanda Neff Prove It’s Possible To Swap Disciplines And Still Come Out On Top

Thomas Pidcock of Great Britain as he rides to Gold in the Men’s Mountain Bike competition during the European Championships 2022 at Munich, Germany on August 19, 2022

Red Bull Media House launch their brand-new docuseries Race Tapes on Red Bull TV. Road, the first episode, focuses on two world champs road racer Tom Pidcock and MTB star Jolanda Neff, to prove that it really is possible to trade slicks for off-roaders, and vice versa, and still ride home with gold.

Roadie Tom Pidcock makes the leap from what he describes as the high-performance, high-stakes world of road racing to the “much friendlier and more relaxed” mountain biking scene.

Since turning pro in 2021, Tom has won MTB gold in cross-country at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2022 Cyclo-cross World Championships and the classic Strade Bianche in 2023. Not bad for a 23-year-old Englishman with a Grand Tour stage win and podium at the 2021 Brabantse Pijl. And who said roadies are just lycra-wearing, latte drinkers? 

Jolanda Neff, on the other hand, frequently trades in her mountain bike to do “a little road race here and there”. This is an understatement on her part when you discover that Jolanda races for the Trek-Segafredo road team, is two times Swiss National Champion and is top ten in both the World Championships and 2021 Olympic Games in road cycling. A handsome tally for a multi-medal winning cyclo-cross and cross-country mountain biker. 

Tom and Jolanda’s achievements are out of this world when you know how different these two disciplines are. From working as a team in the “cutthroat” environment of road racing to the family vibes of mountain biking and riding “as hard as you can” alone, the gap between was thought of as impassable.

But both Jolanda and Tom have crossed over with their A-game in hand to each other’s disciplines and blown convention out of the water.  

Tune in to Red Bull TV and enjoy Road, the first epic episode of Race Tapes, released ahead of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Season.

Hear how Tom and Jolanda made bridge the discipline gap, as well as stories from other top riders, including Evie Richards, Nino Schurter, Aaron Gwin and Jackson Goldstone.

All You Need To Know: 

  • The first episode of Race Tapes goes live on Red Bull TV, on May 9th 2023.
  • Follow the stories of road racer Tom Pidcock and MTB star Jolanda Neff as they swap disciplines and score gold. 
  • Road racer Tom Pidcock notched up victories in cross-country mountain biking at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2022 Cyclo-cross World Championships and the 2023 Strade Bianche. 
  • Decorated mountain biker Jolanda Neff is also two times Swiss National Champion and top ten in both the World Championships and Olympic Games in road cycling.

Watch Race Tapes, S1 E1 here: https://www.redbull.com/int-en/episodes/race-tapes-s1-e1