“He’s in a better place, mentally and physically” – Tom Pidcock’s coach reveals 2025 transformation away from INEOS Grenadiers

Twelve months ago, Tom Pidcock looked a shadow of his usual self. Struggling for rhythm and battling inconsistency, his 2024 season on the road never quite caught fire. But in 2025, the 24-year-old Brit is riding like a man transformed.

Having left INEOS Grenadiers to join Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, a team that had never started a Grand Tour before this season, Pidcock’s move raised more than a few eyebrows. Who leaves a WorldTour superpower for an ambitious but unproven squad?

So far, Pidcock has silenced the doubters.

He began the season in emphatic style by winning the overall classification and two stages at the AlUla Tour. He then went toe-to-toe with Tadej Pogacar to take second at Strade Bianche, before backing it up with third at La Flèche Wallonne and top 10s at both Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Amstel Gold Race.

Now at the Giro d’Italia, he’s targeting stage wins, and perhaps more.

“There have been a lot of small things, different parts of the puzzle that have come together,” Pidcock’s coach told Cycling Weekly. “And the result is he’s in a better place, mentally and physically.

“We made a few adjustments in training, with more intensity but the same volume, and also with nutrition. These parts we have definitely improved and he’s getting better results.

“He had a big performance in Strade Bianche; the stage races we did went really well; he was third at Flèche, but he was unfortunate to puncture in the last 10km of Amstel Gold, and he should have been second or third at Liège.

“There have been a few small mistakes like hydration and fuelling errors at Liège that we need to stop with the age he’s at, but the consistency is there and if we look along the curve we see he’s definitely a better rider and we see that his numbers have also improved.”

More than just physical gains, Pidcock is clearly in a better headspace too. In Netflix’s Tour de France: Unchained documentary, it was clear to see that Pidcock and INEOS were no longer a match made in heaven. So far, it seems that his goals and that of Q36.5’s are more closely aligned.

“He’s in a good place again and you can see that he’s enjoying racing his bike,” the Belgian coach continued. “We don’t have a massive target for him, but we instead just want to get the maximum out of him. We’re not saying we want to win a particular race – we just want to be consistently in the game, give him the tools to perform on the day, and we’ll see where it brings him.

“There are still a few things to fall into place because it was a big change but once everything’s settled down then he’ll definitely have found the platform where he can perform.”

The next part of that platform includes returning to his roots. Between the Giro and the Vuelta a España in late August, Pidcock will once again compete in mountain biking, which is where he has always been at his best.

“That’s who he is,” his coach said. “Maybe people want to change him to go in one particular direction, but Tom hasn’t made that choice yet and maybe never will make a definitive choice. He just sees progression in every part of cycling, and he pushes everyone around him to support him in that kind of philosophy.

“We will do some mountain biking this summer and then gravel at the end of the year, and it’s what he likes to do. In his current program, I don’t think that’ll bring any negatives onto the road. It cannot be an excuse not to perform at his best on the road.”