OFFICIAL: INEOS Grenadiers confirm the departure of Tom Pidcock - “We thank Tom for the last four years and wish him the best of luck for the future”

Cycling
Thursday, 05 December 2024 at 10:08
tompidcock

Although a few days ago it seemed that the situation between Tom Pidcock and INEOS Grenadiers could be resurrected, nothing could be further from the truth: according to renowned journalist Daniel Benson, the British rider will leave the team ahead of the 2025 season!

Yesterday we published that the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team could again be negotiating with the current Olympic Mountain Bike champion and now it is confirmed, beyond whether or not he ends up in the ProConti team, that he leaves the INEOS structure after a year to forget. Thus, at the age of 25, probably in the best moment of his career, the Leeds-native rider is set to leave INEOS after 7 seasons in which he has won stages in the Tour de France, the Strade Bianche, the Amstel Gold Race or has been on the podium in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

After the Il Lombardia controversy though, the situation seems to have proven untenable and in the end, as usually happens in these cases, both team and cyclist have reached an agreement to part ways. The truth is that the direction of INEOS in recent years is inexplicable. But it is also true that Pidcock, beyond being their biggest name, was a problem.

And with so much talent, the fact that he has only accumulated 5 wins as a professional on the road is something that is a little surprising. We don't know if part of the problems between the team and the rider come from that: does racing MTB and Cyclocross make him lose out on the road? We also know that the cyclist has wanted to be a leader in the Tour de France, depriving himself of winning more stages and causing the team not to put all its cards on Carlos Rodríguez a couple of years ago, for example. It's all been very strange, and even more so in the last few months, so this news is not surprising. According to Benson, INEOS will make it official in the next few hours. We'll then see if he finally ends up at Q36.5 or if another squad gets in the way.

UPDATE

It has now been confirmed by the INEOS Grenadiers that Pidcock is indeed leaving the team by mutual agreement.

“We’re really proud of the work we’ve done with Tom to help him achieve some extraordinary and memorable moments. Together we’ve written a powerful chapter and shown how exciting and diverse professional cycling can be," says INEOS Grenadiers CEO John Allert in an official press release. “Tom has some big multi-disciplinary goals and we believe this decision enables both of us to pursue our future ambitions with clarity, purpose and determination. We thank Tom for the last four years and wish him the best of luck for the future.”

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7 Comments
OCexile 05 December 2024 at 16:29+ 502

tom is still only 25. yeah, some years have been squandered, but perhaps there’s time to right the ship. the problem though is figuring out exactly what he should be targeting. GC? while pog, jonas and remco are all in their prime? probably not. classics? with another 5+ years of mathieu, wout, pog, remco, etc? so, stages? yeah, IF he can embrace that role, but it still seems like he doesnt see that as lofty enough.

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maria20242024 05 December 2024 at 17:06+ 472

yeah, I think this is the big problem... what does Pidcock want to do? what type of races are suitable for him? for me, is an indecipherable, erratic rider.

awp 05 December 2024 at 18:58+ 1161

He's actually a very nice guy who is pretty dang humble, I think he'll be alright.

Mistermaumau 17 December 2024 at 05:30+ 3289

I once worked for an employer that was so good at putting people off staying we started a social group for ex-employees which grew and grew until it was larger than the workforce. 20 years on we still meet up to laugh about things back then. I see an opportunity here ;-)

abstractengineer 17 December 2024 at 05:29+ 3112

The unspoken comment from INEOS would be "Good Riddance"

joebloggs 05 December 2024 at 12:12+ 28

Someone else is going to be paying him millions to win one race a season?

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ScottG 05 December 2024 at 16:29+ 812

It wasn't a good fit with Ineos, obviously. Hopefully Tom will be in a better situation going forward.

awp 17 December 2024 at 05:36+ 1161

He will, he just needs to know where the division of labor will be for him in a team, I don't think Ineos was great at showcasing this. They probably just told him to go out and win something. He's still a developing athlete so let's see how he does moving forward. Don't forget about Matteo Jorgenson and his new outlook, team leadership dynamics play such a huge role in an athletes mental state.

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