🎥 Anyone who saw Tom Pidcock dominate for Q36.5 on a 22 percent (!) climb should’ve known better back then

As cycling fans, we like to fool ourselves when it comes to the form of our favorites. Those who are already in good shape in January are usually too early, and those who only get going in June are generally too late. How different that was for Tom Pidcock, who was already in excellent form in January 2025 in the desert of AlUla. People who doubted him at the time should perhaps have known better.

Let's go back to January 31 of this year. The AlUla Tour 2025 rode from Maraya to Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid that day, covering 140.9 kilometers at a pleasant temperature of 21 degrees Celsius.

Pidcock started the day as the leader in the GC, after proving to be the best puncher on day 2 with the finish at Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah. Rainer Kepplinger (Bahrain Victorious) and Alan Hatherly (Jayco AlUla) had little to offer. Pidcock thus demonstrated that it had been a good decision to skip cyclo-cross during the winter.

The Brit had endured considerable criticism that winter. First, there was the much-discussed switch from INEOS Grenadiers to pro-continental Q36.5 Pro Cycling. Dozens of rumors circulated about the reasons behind it, but Pidcock responded with his pedals. Whereas he had consistently started the three previous seasons in the Tour of the Algarve in February, this time it was a few weeks earlier.

He did so without any expectations, he recently confirmed. “We accepted that it might be a bit of a write-off, a kind of transition to build for the future,” he said, describing 2025. So his strong start in the AlUla Tour was not predicted either. “After the winter, you never know exactly where you stand,” he said, not without reason, after his stage win in stage 2 of the race in January.

The response after his stage victory on day 4 in AlUla was different, because Pidcock himself had also noticed that he was really very good when the decisive 2.9-kilometer climb at 12 percent (and 22 percent maximum) presented itself. “I've worked hard for efforts like this. I believe I broke my best five- and ten-minute records this week, so I'm clearly in good shape,” he said.

It was undoubtedly a statement from Pidcock, starting so well. But that was against men from the second row. Doubts remained, because Pidcock had already shown his strength at INEOS with a stage win in the Algarve. And that was not always followed by good results on the road for the rest of the year. That was different in 2025. The AlUla Tour 2025 was just the beginning of the new Tom Pidcock.

Just as easily as he rode up a 22 percent gradient, we suddenly saw Pidcock keeping up with Tadej Pogacar in Strade Bianche. We saw him drop Jonas Vingegaard in the Vuelta a España and double his list of victories with five wins. Third place in the final classification of the Vuelta was his most remarkable result, all thanks to the kickstart in the AlUla desert.

Bram van der Ploeg ( Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])