“I would have liked to go home with more” – Tom Pidcock reflects on Giro d’Italia debut with Q36.5
Cycling
Tom Pidcock has completed his first Grand Tour with Q36.5
Pro Cycling Team, and while there were flashes of promise, the 2025 Giro
d’Italia ultimately left the British rider feeling that more was possible.
For both Pidcock and Q36.5, it was a maiden Giro appearance.
The team made history by lining up in its first ever Grand Tour, while Pidcock
added to his growing experience at the highest level of stage racing. He
finished sixteenth overall in the general classification, narrowly missing out
on a potential top ten.
“I would have liked to go home with more, of course, but in
Grand Tours it's so incredibly difficult to get it all done, whether you're
going for a stage or the GC,” Pidcock told In de Leiderstrui on the
final day in Rome. “But I do think this was my strongest Grand Tour that I've
ridden. I did quite well.”
It might have been better. His best shot at a stage win, the
gravel Stage 9 to Siena, was derailed by a crash. Then, a tactical
miscalculation on Stage 19, under intense heat, led to his biggest time loss of
the race.
“The tank was not empty, no,” Pidcock explained. “I tried to
join the breakaway in stage 19, but blew myself up completely in the heat. That
wasn't very smart, on a day that was suddenly very hot and I know that I
usually don't adapt to those conditions very quickly. So that wasn't a good
idea. Because of that action, I lose my chance of a top ten.”
He eventually lost around 18 minutes that day, a gap he was
never able to recover. On Stage 20, there was little left to fight for.
“In stage 20 there was not much more to gain for me, also
because it was my very first time doing a climb of an hour.”
While Pidcock had ambitions of a stronger showing, he
acknowledged that his build-up to the race may not have been ideal, “To be
honest, I was more ambitious for the Giro than what I have shown now,” he
admitted.
“But with the preparation I have had, without a real
altitude training camp after the Ardennes classics, I perhaps could not have
expected more.”
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He also noted that his rivals came into the race fresher and
better prepared, “All the men before me had a better preparation, with fewer
racing days.”
As for what comes next, Pidcock won’t be riding the Tour de
France this summer, instead setting his sights on the Vuelta a España, where he
hopes to arrive in better shape and better conditions.
“I will hopefully be able to prepare myself more
specifically towards the Vuelta,” he said. “With a bit of mountain biking in
Andorra in the summer and at the European Championships in Melgaço.”
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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