After dog-bite horror, Frederik Frison is excited for future at Q36.5: "To work for a rider like Tom Pidcock in the final, that is really a dream"

After a horrific dog-bite to his private parts scuppered Frederik Frison's debut season at the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team in 2024, the 32-year-old Belgian heads into 2025 fully recovered, ready to make his mark and determined to help the team's new superstar leader, Tom Pidcock.

"I have to say that things are going well," Frison tells Wielerflits when asked about the delicate topic of the health of his private parts. "Of course it's not like before, it's a scar. But it doesn't bother me on the bike or in everyday life. That's the most important thing. It is something incredibly annoying and people make jokes about it. Me too. That should be allowed, I can really laugh about it. But as a rider and a person it is a very annoying injury. It would have been better not to have experienced it. But what I'm saying is, they're still animals."

As it turned out, that moment of madness from the dog wasn't the only piece of bad luck Frison received during the year either. Despite a string of illnesses and injuries though, Frison and Q36.5 as a whole never lost faith. “The new team always motivated me. They always stood behind me and supported me. That feels really good, which certainly kept me motivated," he recalls warmly. "And of course my wife and two children helped me through this period. My wife has known me for quite a few years now. She kept me calm and kept talking to me about what I have already achieved. That doesn’t just go away. If I kept working, everything would be fine again.”

And as a reward for sticking out the rocky 2024 season, Frison now enters 2025 as part of one of the much exciting and ambitious lineups in all the peloton, bolstered over the winter by the signing of double Olympic gold medallist Tom Pidcock among others. "I was really happy when I heard he was joining us. It is very positive for the team, all the riders and the staff. Tom is really a big name," Frison concludes excitedly. "If he joins us, it gives everyone extra motivation. Because if you can work for a rider like Tom in the final, then that is really a dream, I would say."