"I’m not interested in the GC" - Tom Pidcock clarifies Giro d'Italia goals

For the first time in his career, Tom Pidcock is set to ride the Giro d'Italia in 2025. Given the freedom to ride how he wants by the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, the former Tour de France stage winner is also set to ditch the general classification ambitions he'd developed over the latter half of his time at the INEOS Grenadiers.

Arriving off the back of a trio of top-10 finishes in the Ardennes, highlighted by a podium at La Fleche Wallonne, Pidcock begins his Giro d'Italia debut with confidence levels high. “I felt like I was getting better with each race," explains the two-time Olympic gold medallist in conversation with Cycling Pro Net ahead of the 2025 Giro d'Italia. "After Milano-Sanremo, I lost a bit of my rhythm, to be honest, but I’ve definitely found my flow again. I’m just looking forward to racing.”

As mentioned, this is Pidcock's first experience of the Giro d'Italia and so far, the Brit isn't quite getting the same feeling as when he did media duties pre-Tour de France. “It doesn’t really feel like a Grand Tour yet,” he admits. “Maybe because we’re in Albania, which doesn’t have as rich a cycling history as some of the traditional countries. But honestly, I’m happy to be in a place I’ve never been before. That’s one of the great perks of this job — traveling to new places. I’ve been working hard away from the spotlight for the past week and a half, kind of removed from everything. I haven’t had that usual sense that I’m at a Grand Tour yet.”

When it comes to the Giro though, Pidcock is clear. He's here for stages and not the general classification. “My goal is to win. To race hard every day, be there at the front, and enjoy it. But no, I’m not interested in the GC,” he clarifies, not even holding much of hope of a short spell in Pink by winning the opening stage. “Realistically? No, not really. It’s the first stage of a Grand Tour, so we can expect a hard day. But we’ll see what happens.”