Sharp, relaxed, and fresher than ever: Tom Pidcock aims to fly in the Vuelta

Pidcock is already facing his sixth Grand Tour, but everyone knows that the whole process has only been taken seriously since his move from INEOS Grenadiers to Q36.5. At INEOS, the all-rounder was still a jack of all trades, combining cyclo-cross, mountain biking, and road racing. His talent earned him a stage win on Alpe d'Huez in the 2022 Tour and a place in the top 20 in the overall classification in both 2022 and 2023. However, this was accompanied by Olympic titles in MTB (2016 and 2021), world titles in MTB (2023) and cyclo-cross (2022), and victories in the classic spring races.

At INEOS, they couldn't really decide what to do with Pidcock. So he opted for the pro-continental Q36.5. In six months, he multiplied the number of victories on his record, with two stages and overall victory in the AlUla Tour and stage wins in the Ruta del Sol and Tour of Norway. He skipped the entire cyclo-cross winter to focus on the road and decided to skip the Flemish spring. This more focused approach earned him a star role in Strade Bianche behind Tadej Pogacar; he finished third in the Flèche Wallonne and rode in the top ten in the other two Ardennes classics.

After the spring, Giro organizer RCS Sport decided to give the extra wildcard to Q36.5, giving Pidcock the chance to make his debut in the Italian Grand Tour. He did so with a clear goal: 21 days of full throttle and then see if it paid off. There were no explicit ambitions for the GC, but in addition to chasing stage wins, Pidcock dug in every day in the stages. He never deliberately dropped back to allow his body to get used to three weeks of racing at full throttle. He finished sixteenth in Rome, although a top ten finish with slightly better choices would have been possible.

But that was the whole point of the Giro: to make mistakes and learn from them ahead of the big goal in the fall: the Vuelta. Q36.5 knew well in advance that they would be participating, so after the Giro, Pidcock was able to take it easy and work towards three weeks in Spain via the Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica in his backyard (10th). In the Tour of Norway, he got back into the rhythm of racing, won a stage, and finished second in the overall classification. At the end of July, he also became European mountain bike champion, a title that was still missing from his collection. Even with a more focused approach, he remains an all-rounder...

In the Vuelta a España, Pidcock will have the opportunity to show that all the choices he made in 2025 are paying off. The Brit was already looking sharp in the mixed zone at the team presentation. “You think I look skinny? Haha, that's good,” he said with a broad smile. You couldn't give a stage racer a better compliment just before a big race. “I've been in Andorra, where I've been training at altitude. And to be honest, I feel really fresh, a bit like I did in January, February, and March. I think I'm in a good place.”

Because Pidcock has been living in Andorra for several years, he doesn't have to be away from home for weeks at a time like many others. He came home every day to his girlfriend Bethany and his beloved dogs Chestnut and Acorn. “I love the training process, which is mainly about training and resting. Doing nothing is something I'm secretly very good at. But above all, I'm very relaxed. Last week, I went out for dinner for my girlfriend's birthday, something we don't normally do. I'm approaching this big race feeling very calm.”

Given that Pidcock's performance from January to March was quite impressive, expectations are already high. Why should things be different in the Vuelta than in the Giro? "Going into the Giro, I was already quite tired from the first part of the season. I think that will be the biggest difference in this Vuelta, because I've had excellent preparation, with a lot of training. I hope to bring that into practice, because the numbers in training were better than in the Giro."

It all sounds great, now Pidcock just has to put it into practice. The big goal is a place in the GC, because he has never finished in the top ten in a Grand Tour. Pidcock wouldn't be Pidcock if he didn't hope to add to that. “I'm going all out for the classification, with a lot of finishes that should suit me. That way, I can also go for a stage win, because winning is ultimately the most fun; riding for a GC alone is less rewarding. So we're going to try to win stages,” he said ambitiously.

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