"The expectations grew in the last few years and I didn’t meet them" - Tom Pidcock honest on INEOS tension and Tour de France disappointment

Things haven't been all rosy between Tom Pidcock and the INEOS Grenadiers over recent months, culminating in the Brit's controversial deselection from the team's Il Lombardia lineup. Speaking on the situation publicly, Pidcock hasn't been honest about underachievement from himself and his teammates.

"I’m never gonna lie. It’s true, we’ve had a difficult year, I’ve had a difficult year. It’s not what we wanted," admits the double Olympic gold medallist at Rouleur Live. Given the recent changes in the performance staff at INEOS though, including the departure of Steve Cummings, someone Pidcock was reportedly at odds with, the Brit is confident things will pick up in 2025. "I do see a lot of positive changes and, of course, everyone accepts that there are difficulties when you change it and we’re seeing those changes happening. I do hope that it can be turned around."

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Central to the disappointment of the INEOS Grenadiers and Pidcock over 2024 was a quiet Tour de France. "It’s been difficult," Pidcock explained. "I didn’t win a stage, the team didn’t have as much success as they used to and it was difficult. I need to try and re-find the feelings I had in the first place. Enjoying it, feeling like I’m part of the race."

Pidcock has been touted as a potential GC threat in recent years, something that hasn't really gone to plan so far. "I think part of it was that the expectations grew in the last few years and I didn’t meet them for a multitude of reasons. Expectations grew and I didn't meet them for a multitude of reasons and then it's not enjoyable, you're always trying to enjoy yourself," he explains. "The last few years going to the Tour I haven't known what I wanted. It doesn't create a nice experience, I really want to find what I want to get out of it and be realistic. The Tour is the biggest platform to show yourself, and if you're not in the spotlight you're kinda, not irrelevant, but... that's where you want to be, you want to win a stage or be in a jersey."

"I want to get back to enjoy it, going out there and racing and then everything else will follow. Unless you want it yourself then it’s irrelevant," he concludes. "I’ve lost that ability, the sprint the speed, that I had two or three years ago, and that’s what I want to find again. My favourite races are the Classics, and I haven’t won a Monument yet. That’s where I want to focus really."

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