The end of the relationship came with three years remaining on the 25-year-old Briton’s contract and after months of public wrangling marked by accusations, recriminations and false reconciliations. The lowlight of the affair came when the team deselected Pidcock for Il Lombardia, though he appeared to be the strongest rider the team had for the race. The best INEOS Grenadiers finisher in the race was Thymen Arensman, who finished 15th, 7:06 behind the winner, Tadej Pogačar.
INEOS Grenadiers CEO John Allert accentuated the positive in the team statement, saying, “We’re really proud of the work we’ve done with Tom to help him achieve some extraordinary and memorable moments. Together we’ve written a powerful chapter and shown how exciting and diverse professional cycling can be.”
Pidcock was also wistful about the end of the relationship. “So many amazing memories that will stick with me for a lifetime,” he said on Instagram. “I can’t thank enough all the hard working people in the team who brought so much and helped me achieve my dreams – thank you @ineosgrenadiers. Gonna miss you boys.” He added: “When one door closes another opens….”
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That door appears to be the second-level Swiss Pro team Q36.5, which had been rumored to be actively pursuing Pidcock throughout the long separation squabbles. A source told Cyclingnews that he was expected to sign with the team and that billionaire team supporter Ivan Glasenberg would be bankrolling the transfer. Pidcock reportedly was paid a salary of 2.7 million euros this year by INEOS Grenadiers.
That makes him the seventh-highest-paid cyclist on the peloton, just behind Wout van Aert, and is a reflection of how much he had meant to the team when they signed him. He joined INEOS Grenadiers in 2021, after its great young hope, Egan Bernal, suffered terrible injuries in a high-speed training crash and its other Grand Tour winners, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas had ridden past their primes.
For a while, it seemed like the perfect match, as Pidcock lit up the road with some eye-catching performances, taking a spectacular solo victory on Alpe d’Huez, and wins at Strade Bianche, in 2023, and the Amstel Gold this year, as well as winning two Olympic mountain bike gold medals and an MTB world championship.
The marriage started going sour last July when team Director of Racing Steve Cummings was not taken to the Tour de France and Pidcock declared that the team would be “better” without him there. Cummings was also not taken to the Vuelta a España. He finally left after being replaced by Pidcock’s coach, Kurt Bogaerts, for the Tour of Britain, and will next year be working for Jayco AlUla as a sports director.
All the while, Pidcock repeatedly complained that he was not being served well by the team and was rumored to be negotiating with several teams, especially Q36.5. If that’s where he will be going, the question that must be asked is why. Why would he sign with a team that looks to have absolutely no chance of achieving WorldTour status next year and will be toiling at lesser races until at least the end of 2028? Q36.5 currently stands 25th in the UCI’s World Team Rankings table, far behind the current team in the WorldTour cutoff 18th spot, Uno-X Mobility.
Perhaps there’s a clue in INEOS CEO Allert’s declaration: “Tom has some big multi-disciplinary goals and we believe this decision enables both of us to pursue our future ambitions with clarity, purpose and determination.”
Did Pidcock feel that he was not getting enough support from the team for his off-road ambitions? In addition to MTB, he also has competed in cyclo-cross, winning the world championship in 2022. However, he had a disappointing 2023-24 ‘cross season, participating in fewer races than previously, perhaps because INEOS wanted to reserve him for the road racing season. But this is speculation.
And one wonders what his recruitment would mean for Q36.5. At his best, Pidcock is an excellent one-day rider, capable of winning Monuments and Grand Tour stages. But is he good enough to beat Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel at their best? I doubt it. And will he be good enough to singlehandedly drag the team to World Tour status in 2029? Highly unlikely. Unless the team signs him to show that it is serious about rising to the top and thereby attracts other top riders.
As for INEOS Grenadiers, the only benefits that losing Pidcock will have for the team is to put an end, at last, to all that public squabbling and to wipe the slate clean for a fresh start. But the team has lost several other good riders this year, with Ethan Hayter going to Soudal–Quick Step, Jhonatan Narváez leaving for UAE Team Emirates and Luke Rowe retiring. If it wants to reach the stratospheric heights it achieved in the 2010s, there is a mountain of work to be done because the competition is ferocious.
