Tom Pidcock adds Clásica Jaén Paraíso to his Strade Bianche preparation with goal of beating Tadej Pogacar

The Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior keeps strengthening its line-up with headline names. The race, sponsored by the Diputación de Jaén and held around the UNESCO World Heritage city of Úbeda, now adds the Swiss team Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling to the list of participants. The team will be led by Tom Pidcock, one of the stars of world cycling.

The confirmation of the Swiss squad joins the already announced entries of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, Soudal - Quick-Step (set to field Mikel Landa), and Bahrain - Victorious, consolidating a top-tier cast for the race known as the Roads of Olive Trees.

Pascual Momparler, organiser of the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior, placed special value on the Briton’s presence. He explained that Pidcock’s arrival is a major source of satisfaction and an endorsement of the race’s growing prestige. He also highlighted the interest shown by a rider with world and Olympic titles across disciplines, noting that just five years ago it would have been unthinkable to host a figure of this calibre in Jaén.

Tom Pidcock is the standard-bearer of the revamped Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling. Born in 1999 in Leeds, he is a precocious, multi-disciplinary talent who, at just 24, had already become Olympic and world MTB champion and cyclo-cross world champion. On the road, he built his career with Ineos Grenadiers, taking standout wins such as a Tour de France stage at Alpe d’Huez, as well as prestigious classics like Amstel Gold Race and Strade Bianche.

But all wasn't perfect in the British team for Pidcock, who chose to move over to the ambitious project of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling. A step down a division, but a leap up the team leadership hierarchy.

Under his leadership, the squad made a clear competitive leap. Pidcock delivered an outstanding season with five individual victories and the team’s biggest milestone in 2025: the Vuelta a España podium, alongside Jonas Vingegaard and Joao Almeida.

The Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior was born in 2022 with a unique proposal in Spain, combining asphalt sections with sterrato sectors through the Caminos de Olivos that cross the Sea of Olive Trees, the landscape behind the world’s most renowned olive oil. With Úbeda as its hub, its young roll of honour already features major names: Alexey Lutsenko in 2022; Tadej Pogacar, reigning world champion and triple Tour de France winner, in 2023; Oier Lazkano in 2024; and Michal Kwiatkowski, also a world champion, in 2025.

The event’s growth is also reflected in an expanded programme since its inaugural edition in 2022.

In 2023, the Gran Fondo Jaén Paraíso Interior was added, a sportives-style version whose fourth edition will be held on Saturday, February 14th. A year later, the UCI Nations' Cup Jaén Paraíso Interior was introduced, raced on Sunday, February 15th, aimed at the youngest riders in the international peloton. That day, the Briton Erin Boothman took the win, with Navarra’s Paula Ostiz in second, who months later would be crowned junior women’s world champion in Rwanda.