In winning, Pidcock defeated a trio of Norwegians from another Pro team, Uno-X Mobility, Fredrik Dversnes, Johannes Kulset, and Ådne Holter. He beat second-place Dversnes by 1:09, quite a large gap for a five-stage race, with Kulset a further 3 seconds back in third.
The key was his superiority on the two climbs of the race. On stage 2, which was reduced to 130 km because of a poor road surface, he was the best of the climb to a summit finish, beating Rainer Keplinger (Bahrain-Victorious) by 4 seconds, with Alan Hatherly (Jayco AlUla) a further 3 seconds adrift. On stage 4, he had a 26-second lead on Hatherly, Kepplinger and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) when reaching the top of the steep ascent (2.9 km @ 12%), but had to ride another 9 km on a more or less flat stretch to secure the win. In the end, Hatherly finished second, at 12 seconds, with Keplinger finishing just behind him.
Pidcock’s victory and two stage wins were important for his team because Q36.5 is one of numerous teams – Uno-X Mobility is another – looking to be promoted to WorldTour status at the end of 2025. For his performance in the second-level AlUla Tour, he picked up 162 points for Q36.5.
In addition, in winning the bunch sprint on the final stage of the race, Pidcock’s teammate Matteo Moschetti added another 14 points to the haul. The unsung Moschetti outsprinted the veterans Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) and Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) at the end of a stage marked by strong cross winds.
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The three Norwegians collected a total of 215 points for Uno-X Mobility, as the promotion battle kicked off in earnest. The WorldTour races to come in spring offer substantially more points but are also far more competitive, so Pidcock can be expected to be racing for points on both levels, depending on how many WorldTour races his team will be invited to. His presence on Q36.5 will ensure that they receive more invitations than they would have without him.
Naturally, Pidcock was delighted for himself and for his team, saying after the final stage, “To be honest, I’m a bit emotional. It’s quite a fairy tale almost. To see how much it means to these guys is incredible, and to finish it off like that, it’s unbelievable.”
He was also full of praise for his team. “I didn’t know any of these guys until December, and some of them I only met in January, so what we already do together and how we do it is incredible, actually,” he said.
Though he had won several stage races as a junior, including the Baby Giro, he acknowledged that winning at the pro level was of another calibre. “As a U23, I could do this, but it’s taken me a while as an elite,” he said. “To be honest, it’s a big step in my career. The concentration it takes at this level to defend a lead every day… And this isn’t a WorldTour race; it’s only five days. I definitely realise how hard it is.”
According to Q36.5 sports director Jens Zemke, Pidcock is also helping change the mentality of his teammates. “For the other riders, it’s a new situation because last year, we weren’t in a position of being favourites very often,” Zemke told Derniere Heure. “So that’s a change, but it’s also a boost to morale.”
He went on to say, “Tom’s really raised the demands on the riders, and the others understand that it’s an enormous opportunity for them to be in a competitive team and progress at his side.” For example, Zemke said Pidcock has changed his teammates’ attitude toward certain training habits, such as coffee breaks after long training rides, “because he’d say, ‘No, no coffee. We’re staying in race mode’.”
Race mode is a term that has always seemed to fit Pidcock. A double Olympics gold medal winner in MTB and winner of the 2022 cyclo-cross world championship, in his new role as the undisputed leader of an ambitious and up-and-coming team, he will have a chance to demonstrate just how good of a road racer he can be. The AlUla Tour may just have been the first stage of a superb road racing career.