"I don’t think Tom Pidcock is going to say, 'well, I’ll go ride around for half my wages at Q36.5'" - Expert expects INEOS star to stay put despite discontent
Cycling
Despite all the controversy and rumours of discontent within the INEOS Grenadiers, it now looks likely that Tom Pidcock will remain at the British-based team in 2025. Can bridges be repaired and can Pidcock get back to his brilliant best next season though?
Since the big blow out following Pidcock's controversial deselection from INEOS' Il Lombardia lineup, the British, double Olympic gold medallist has been described by some as a bit of a loner, not really merging into the team philosophy. This is something that has caught the attention of Dutch ex pro turned expert, Laurens Ten Dam. "He has his own little kingdom within the team, with Kurt Bogaerts as his personal trainer and confidant, his own mechanic always with him, his own doctor..." Ten Dem explains on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.
"This year, Pidcock even said, 'I feel like the team is holding me back,'" Ten Dam continues, more than a little critical of both rider and team. "He was looking for something outside of himself, blaming the team. It’s a mess on all sides."
After Il Lombardia, rumours circulated about Pidcock's potential departure from the team, with the likes of the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team reported to have interest. Ten Dam though, expects Pidcock to stay put regardless of the interest from the Swiss team. "I don’t know what happened. But, yeah, four million pounds, five million euros... I don’t think Tom Pidcock is going to say, 'well, I’ll go ride around for half of that at Q36.5,'" he assesses.
The confusion of the INEOS Grenadiers' transfer strategy is also a talking point among the peloton Ten Dam reveals. "Last year, I texted Aike (Visbeek, team director of Wanty-Intermarché, ed.) a few times, and he said, 'what is INEOS doing with their transfer policy?' He didn’t understand it," the Dutchman concludes. "He already saw last December that it looked like it was imploding."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 2visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment