"People who are around Tom I don't think help" - Geraint Thomas weighs in on Pidcock/INEOS drama
Cycling
Tom Pidcock was controversially deselected from the INEOS Grenadiers line-up for Il Lombardia last weekend, despite coming second to Tadej Pogacar in the Giro dell'Emilia. With seemingly all signs now hinting towards a Pidcock exit, INEOS stalwart Geraint Thomas has weighed in on the situation.
The Welshman is clear that what has happened makes no sense, even less so with the highest paid rider in the squad: "We should address the elephant in the room. It's just messed up," begins Thomas via an Instagram takeover on Eurosport Cycling alongside Laurens De Plus. "I don't actually know what has gone on, but all I know is, when you're the highest-paid rider in your team… it's obviously a really c*** situation."
As Thomas admits, things can't go on as they are, so something has to change. "He's not happy, the team's not happy. How has it got to this point?" Thomas questions aloud. "I don't know. People who are around Tom I don't think help. The fact is that he had a great chance of performing today (Il Lombardia last Saturday)."
Arguably the most controversialaspect of the whole situation, is that Pidcockwas removed from the final monument by the team's upper management, meaning his recent performance levels had nothing to do with it. "I saw that Zak Dempster had said it's a management call, it's not a performance call. I certainly don't know anything about that. We're just riders, what do we know about management?" Thomas says. "It's just not good. All the b******* aside, he's a great talent. He's a good guy, when I'm around him we have a nice time, so it's not good to see that situation. We'll see what happens."
With rumours of interest from a number of teams, if Pidcock is to leave INEOS he'll seemingly have no shortage of new suitors. Definitely a situation that we'll continue to keep our eye on.
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.
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santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
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- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
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leedorney07-11-2026
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