"The goal is clearly to fight for a stage win" - With no Tom Pidcock, Q36.5 turn towards Fabio Christen and co at Giro d'Italia 2026
Cycling
With Tom Pidcock absent from the start list, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team head into the 2026 Giro d’Italia with a very different identity to the one many expected earlier in the season.
Rather than building around a single headline rider or general classification ambition, the Swiss outfit appear ready to embrace a far more open and aggressive approach centred around stage hunting, opportunistic racing and selective finishes suited to riders like Fabio Christen.
The 23-year-old Swiss rider will make his Giro debut in Bulgaria and arrives at the race viewing the three weeks as a major opportunity.
“My first Giro and second Grand Tour overall,” Christen said in a pre-race team release. “It’s obviously something very special and the excitement is huge. I’m happy to be here and ready to take the race day by day, looking for opportunities that suit my characteristics.”
No GC leader, plenty of freedom
Christen also openly acknowledged the tactical reality surrounding the team heading into the Giro. “We don’t really have a clear GC leader, so there will be a lot of freedom to target stages that suit us and fight for results.”
That approach mirrors a broader pattern emerging across several teams entering this year’s race. With Jonas Vingegaard and Team Visma | Lease a Bike arriving as overwhelming favourites for the Maglia Rosa after the withdrawals of Joao Almeida, Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa, many squads are instead focusing on stage victories and aggressive racing.
For Q36.5, that philosophy appears particularly suited to both their roster and the nature of the 2026 Giro route.
Why this Giro could suit Fabio Christen
The race features a large number of explosive and selective stages rather than only pure summit finishes, something that fits Christen’s developing rider profile. “I can target reduced sprints,” he explained.
That detail could prove significant over the coming weeks. Christen, the older brother of Jan Christen, who will also race this year’s Giro with UAE Team Emirates - XRG, has steadily developed into one of the more interesting punchy stage racers in the peloton, capable of surviving hard terrain and still producing a fast finish from smaller groups.
The Giro route contains multiple stages that could reward exactly that type of rider, especially in the medium mountain terrain and aggressive transitional days expected throughout the opening two weeks.
“Every day is a chance”
Q36.5’s ambitions for the race were also laid out clearly by Christen. “For us the goal at the Giro is clearly to fight for a stage win,” he said. “Every day is a chance. With Matteo we have a rider for the bunch sprints, I can target reduced sprints, and we also have strong climbers who can go for top ten results in the mountains.”
That combination gives the team several tactical routes into the race rather than forcing them into a single strategy. Without Pidcock, the spotlight naturally shifts elsewhere. But rather than arriving weakened or directionless, Q36.5 instead look set to become one of the more unpredictable and aggressive teams in the race.
And for Fabio Christen, the Giro now offers the biggest opportunity of his career so far to prove he can turn that freedom into results.
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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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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