{"id":204334,"date":"2025-12-10T14:59:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204334"},"modified":"2025-12-10T15:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:00:12","slug":"tom-pidcock-and-q36-5-pro-cycling-are-racing-for-the-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/12\/10\/tom-pidcock-and-q36-5-pro-cycling-are-racing-for-the-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Pidcock and Q36.5 Pro Cycling Are Racing for the Tour \u2013 One Step at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Pidcock won only six races in 2025, which isn\u2019t really much to write home about when you compare it to the 20 races won by Tadej Poga\u010dar or the 16 registered by the Slovenian\u2019s UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG teammate Isaac del Toro. But this year was Pidcock\u2019s long-awaited breakout season because he scored his first Grand Tour podium, in the Vuelta Ciclista a Espa\u00f1a, and because of the climbing strength he demonstrated in that race.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

His performance was all the more remarkable because he did it as the leader of the second-level Pro team Q36.5 Pro Cycling and was usually unsupported on those steep Vuelta ascents. And at age 26 he still has time and space to improve, as does his team. The team to be known as Pinarello\u2013Q36.5 Pro Cycling next year has staked its future on Pidcock, and vice versa, and based on just that one race and on the team\u2019s ambition, it appears that their futures look bright.<\/p>\n

The Vuelta performance, Pidcock told Cyclingnews<\/em><\/a>, \u201cdefinitely marked a turning point, that’s for sure. Before, I didn’t enjoy Grand Tours, it was not so much fun. So it [the podium finish] is definitely something that has changed that perspective and showed me I can achieve what people closest to me believe I can and my team believes I can. It’s a relief, almost \u2013 a weight off my shoulders.” It also marked Pidcock\u2019s transition from a multi-discipline rider with an off-road focus to a Grand Tour road racer who may also occasionally ride cyclocross and MTB.<\/p>\n

His coach, team sports director Kurt Bogaerts, gave a series of interviews after the Vuelta that pretty much mapped out Pidecock\u2019s near-term cycling future. He began by seconding the importance of the Vuelta podium to his rider\u2019s career, telling Wielerflits<\/em><\/a> that \u201cit was the first time he felt he could compete with the best climbers in the world, and that he could potentially break away from them. In the stage to Bilbao, he dropped\u00a0Jonas Vingegaard<\/a> on the climb. That in itself was quite unique and a positive sign for the future.”<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Tom Pidcock won only six races in 2025. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Bogaerts tried to be realistic about 2026 and the team\u2019s and Pidcock\u2019s goals. After saying that going for a Tour podium in 2026 was a \u201cdangerous ambition,\u201d he explained: \u201cI think Tom is someone who needs time to build his career. A bit like\u00a0Geraint Thomas\u00a0did. He started out riding a lot on the track, then switched to the Classics, and only very late made the transition to the Grand Tour. At 32, he won the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there are Pidcock\u2019s other objectives to contend with, which include both Grand Tours and Classics. \u201cNot only the Tour, but also the Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche, and Milan-San Remo appeal to him,\u201d Bogaerts said. \u201cTom mainly needs to focus on what he wants. We haven’t won a Monument yet, and that’s a goal in itself. But you can’t want everything at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pidcock will be better armed in 2026 as top bike manufacturer Pinarello is joining the team as a co-title sponsor for next season, which means that Pidcock will ride Pinarello bikes exclusively across all disciplines. In addition, the team had a successful transfer season, signing the excellent climbers Eddie Dunbar and Chris Harper from Jayco AlUla, the talented all-rounder Fred Wright from Bahrain-Victorious and the veteran sprinter George Bennett from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.<\/p>\n

These moves were intended not only to provide Pidcock with more support on the road and in the mountains, but also because Pinarello\u2013Q36.5 Pro Cycling will be hunting points in an effort to be promoted to WorldTour status in 2028. \u00a0“The team made a big step forward last year, and we\u2019re now in a position where we should get all the [wildcard] invites in 2026,\u201d Bogaerts told Velo<\/em><\/a>. \u201cSo it\u2019s not like we need to wait until the last moment [before we know if we can ride in a race]. We have security in the race program. We just need to figure out the right program that considers Tom could do the Tour again.\u201d<\/p>\n

For next year\u2019s Tour, the team will again take a cautious approach. \u201cWe need to approach the Tour in the same way as we did the Vuelta,\u201d Bogaerts said. \u201cThe Vuelta was one race where the GC went really well, but I don\u2019t think it should be a general focus in the future for him.”<\/p>\n

Bogaerts wants to see a step-by-step approach to an eventual Tour de France success. \u201cI think the first goal should be to get a stage win again in the Tour and then see how the race develops,\u201d he said. \u201cI think a top 10, like we targeted this year in Spain, should be good in combination with a stage win. We only started to race for the podium late in the Vuelta after we saw that it could be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bogaerts also noted in the Velo<\/em> interview that road racing will be Pidcock\u2019s primary focus. \u201cHis mountain bike and cyclocross goals used a lot of his mental capacity before,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now he\u2019s achieved so many of [those goals], he has a new hunger to try something different. He has new energy for giving the maximum on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be exciting to follow Pidcock in 2026 as he measures himself against the best riders in the world with new confidence, a new bike and an improved team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Pidcock won only six races in 2025, which isn\u2019t really much to write home about when you compare it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":204335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[8818,8323,8794,3871],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-204334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-kurt-bogaerts","tag-q36-5","tag-q36-5-pro-cycling-team","tag-tom-pidcock","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nTom Pidcock and Q36.5 Pro Cycling Are Racing for the Tour<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tom Pidcock won only six races in 2025, which isn\u2019t really much to write home about when you compare it to the 20 races won by Tadej Poga\u010dar or the 16\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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