"Tom now knows he doesn't have to ride with a noose around his neck": Pidcock's coach says 2025 was a huge eye-opener

Tom Pidcock's transfer to Q36.5 Pro Cycling seems to have been exactly what the talented Brit needed to unleash his best self. All of a sudden, Pidcock was able to consistently finish on podiums in the biggest races, including Vuelta a Espana, La Fleche Wallonne or Strade Bianche. With that, the 26-year-old scored nearly half of his team's UCI points, comfortably securing automatic wild cards to all WorldTour events for Q36.5.

"I think Tom has shown all year that he belongs in that group [of riders] behind Pogacar," his coach Kurt Bogaerts told Velo. "We saw that in the Strade Bianche, and even though Pogacar wasn't at the Vuelta, we saw that Tom has a newfound courage to fight with these riders. I think he missed that a bit. Now we have to see where that can take him."

At the Italian semi-Classic, Pidcock was the only man able to match Tadej Pogacar's attack with 80 kilometers to go. Ultimately, he was worn out by the Slovenian's hard pace, but the confidence was already restored.

"By mixing it up with the better riders all year, Tom gained the confidence that he could potentially win from that position on a good day. That was important for him later in the season, and in the future. Tom now knows that he doesn't have to ride with a noose around his neck."

Thanks to the 'Pidcock factor', Q36.5 Pro Cycling are therefore in an excellent position ahead of the next season. They can choose their own races and the performances attracted a range of interesting signings, inlcuding Fred Wright, Chris Harper, Eddie Dunbar or Quinten Hermans. The next target is therefore the Tour de France.

"The team made a huge step forward last season, and we're now in a position where we should receive all the wildcard invitations in 2026. So we don't have to wait until the last minute, but we have clarity on our calendar. We now need to think about the right program that can bring Tom to the Tour de France."

After a Vuelta podium, Pidcock will also aim to leave his mark at the Grande Boucle. "We need to approach it the same way we did for the Vuelta. That was a classification where it worked out very well, but I don't think that should generally be the focus in the future."

But it doesn't need to be a GC result at all cost. "The goal should be to win a stage in the Tour again and then see how the race develops," Bogaerts said. "A top 10 finish, like we were aiming for in the Vuelta, should be easily combined with a stage win."

The key to Pidcock's improvement, according to the coach was that the Olympic champion in XCO skipped most of the mountain bike events this year to focus primarily on road which wasn't always a number one priority. "It was Tom's first year with a much stronger focus on the road. And it gave me a lot of confidence that he can still make a lot of progress. He's still quite young. Until this year, his focus was on racing on dirt surfaces."

Pidcock certainly won't forget mountain biking, cyclocross, and gravel racing. But his focus is elsewhere now. "His mountain biking and cyclocross goals required so much mental capacity. But now he's achieved many of those goals, he has a renewed hunger to try something different. He has new energy to give his all on the road."