Tom Pidcock on a key factor that led to fallout with INEOS Grenadiers: "I signed my contract with other people than those who are currently leading the team"

Tom Pidcock's departure from INEOS Grenadiers was one of the stories of the winter and one that has not yet been left behind. Three years of a millionaire contract remained, terminated with a mutual agreement between both sides for the Olympic champion to join a modest second division team. He further explained the reasons why he left the British team.

However, his priority is clear that he is happy with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, where he's signed a three-year deal and will be an undisputed and absolute leader. “From the first meeting, my heart decided that I would come here. But my head debated it for a long time. The difference was mainly in the belief in me and our shared vision of success," Pidcock said in an interview with Wielerflits. "Moreover, I have the freedom here to ride the races I want. Now that I have made the choice, I feel in everything that it was 100% the right decision. In this team, there are people who are among the smartest in their field that I have ever had the pleasure of working with.”

But this came after a few turbulent months at INEOS where his future was unknown - which in itself, followed months of internal disputes in the team. “Why did I want to leave? I think things didn’t go as planned at INEOS Grenadiers, or at least how I imagined them. The best solution was to mutually decide to terminate our contract. There wasn’t a specific moment when I made the decision. I think it’s no secret that the last year has been difficult. For me, but also for INEOS Grenadiers. Our relationship was fragile.”

Things within the team were not as smooth as it had been in previous years, results wise there was no comparison but management wise as well many things have changed and a few riders did not like where the team was going. Ethan Hayter, British champion, was another figure who was open about there being problems within the team. The departure of key staff such as DS Stephen Cummings, aero specialist Dan Bigham and Carlos Rodríguez' coach Xabier Artetxe signalled obvious prroblems within the team.

“Why did it end like this? To be completely honest with you, I find it very difficult to answer that. I have left it behind me. I realize that INEOS Grenadiers was my second family. I have fantastic memories of it. But now I am fully focused on this team. That is not a scripted answer. I am just very good at leaving things behind. INEOS has its motivations and goals, which they want to achieve in a certain way. Ultimately, it was a business decision for me to leave," he explains.

When he had joined INEOS it had a direction and management that was onboard with his plans, now this was no longer the case. "I signed my contract with other people than those who are currently leading the team. That has created a number of difficulties. See it as my idea or expectation of how things would go, until what ultimately happened. It is also true that they supported me in everything with what they wanted to achieve".

INEOS in the meantime have confirmed to be looking for another title sponsor so as to bring further financial means into the team and become competitive in the market against the likes of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.

As for Pidcock, his ambitions lie elsewhere now. He starts his season at the AlUla Tour, will race the Opening Weekend, but is largely dependent on whichever wildcards the Swiss team receives: “Those have now been confirmed. Not being sure about certain races is a new situation that I have to get used to. But we do have a reasonable idea of ​​what it will look like in broad terms. Hopefully there will be an Italian block in March. I would like to ride that one.”

He has excluded the possibility of racing the Tour de France, but surprisingly he is very open and eager to race one of the other Grand Tours, if given the opportunity. “The biggest question mark is the Giro d’Italia. We will only know that soon. Everyone knows that I aim to win the biggest races. For now I am focusing on the one-day classics. If we ride the Giro, I will therefore start in a slightly lesser form, which means that I will aim for stage wins later in the race".

"If we are also allowed to ride the Vuelta a España at the end of the year, we will have to see what we are going to do there. At the moment that is still a long way off and the first half of the year is mainly clear," he concluded.