"I can aim for the top ten" - Tom Pidcock looking to properly test Grand Tour abilities at Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España is going to have an interesting battle for the overall win with Jonas Vingegaard facing a strong UAE Team Emirates - XRG but one without Tadej Pogacar, but there will be plenty stories to follow throughout the three-week race. One of them will be Tom Pidcock's pursuit of his first Grand Tour Top10 finish.

The Briton has raced the Giro d'Italia earlier in the season and looked to test himself, but he did so after a full classics campaign and no altitude camp to prepare the Corsa Rosa. It's safe to say it was far from the ideal preparation, and a crash on stage 9 - the 'Strade Bianche stage' - both took him out in the day that suited him best and didn't allow him to take time on his rivals.

The Vuelta is where he made his Grand Tour debut back in 2021, and in the following two years he's tested himself but not succeeded at the Tour de France. However he has never truly started a Grand Tour with the full priority on GC and as a leader, and Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team is backing him up for this potential goal in the upcoming month of racing.

“I’ll try to finish high in the standings. My time trial still needs to improve a lot, but maybe I can aim for the top ten," Pidcock said in words to Het Nieuwsblad.

The explosive nature of the Vuelta with it's many hilly stages and lack of high mountain days when comparing to the Giro and Tour routes makes it a much better fit for the 26-year old, and it will be interesting to see also with a more modest field how far he can in the fight for the top positions or even a points classification if the opportunity arises.

"That would be great, but winning a Grand Tour is for me the hardest thing there is. I know what it’s like to win in a one-day race, but a Grand Tour? That’s something else.”