Tom Pidcock transfer: Hit or miss? | Briton moves away from INEOS and World Tour and finds his best self again

The transfer of 2024-2025? Perhaps, but there is no denying that Tom Pidcock's departure from INEOS Grenadiers was one of the strongest stories of last winter, and one of the riskiest too. With a strong millionaire contract, a British team backing him up and a team stacked with stars, it came as a surprise to see the double Olympic Champion move away from the World Tour and into Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. At the end of 2025 we look back and question: Was it a hit or miss?

A pro rider since 2021, Pidcock has shown lots of promise for several years at that time as a multi-disciplinary talent, becoming an Olympic Champion in Tokyo for the first time that year, having titles in cyclocross, road and even track throughout his early years in development. Then becoming an elite he also thrived, winning races such as Strade Bianche, Amstel Gold Race and the Alpe d'Huez stage at the 2022 Tour de France. In 2024 he won a second Olympic gold in mountain biking, bu on the rod he didn't manage to progress throughout his few years with the British team. At age 25, he had also attempted to ride a Grand Tour GC several times, without success.

At the 2025 Tour de France, he insisted beforehand that he would ride with his own ambitions, before toning it down at the start of the race, instead racing with the team's collective plan of supporting Carlos Rodríguez. This didn't prove to be successful and Pidcock abandoned the race in the second week. There were disputes with team management over his role in the team, and the ambitions that deserved team backing on the road. He finished the Giro dell'Emilia in second place in early October but amidst a complete mess within INEOS with several staff members leaving and even hints at problems from other departing riders, Pidcock was suddenly pulled out of the lineup for Il Lombardia, with no justification given.

Pidcock, in Italy already, expressed his shock with an Instagram post at the time confirming he didn't know this would happen. No-one in the cycling world knew really, and a termination of his ongoing contract seemed to be coming sooner rather than later.

Pidcock was even present at a team building camp in Manchester, but when he did not show up at the team's first training camp in Spain, the news spread like wildfire. Pidcock was leaving. In early December the transfer was finally officialized. For three years, the Briton would ride for the Swiss team, with Pinarello bikes off-road and Scott bikes on the road; with a salary payed by the bike brand; and with a team that was in an objective perspective at a level that was significantly lower than Pidcock's previous endeavors. But how would that fare for him? 

With a new team and with only five pro wins to his name, it felt sensible that the team wanted to hit the ground running with the Briton, providing him with a modest calendar but one in which he could regain his confidence. At first this was met with skepticism from many, but it proved to be a functional plan. He hit the ground running at the AlUla Tour, winning both hilly stages and moving on to win for the first time in his career a stage-race. Returning to Europe, he raced the Vuelta a Andalucia where he won another stage and finished third in the overall classification.

Two results that didn't see him race against the top competition, but provided him with the necessary confidence, motivation, and with that came everything else... By the time March came, he rode to a stellar second place at Strade Bianche where he was the only rider to match Tadej Pogacar's initial attack. At Tirreno-Adriatico then, he finished sixth in the overall classification, proving his climbing level was also very high, not just in the explosive efforts. His spring was not the absolute best but he had a good third place at Flèche Wallonne to show for and two Top10 results at Amstel Gold Race - where he had previously been a winner - and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Pidcock in the past had tried to become a Grand Tour specialist, a few occasions at the Tour de France after the 2022 Alpe d'Huez win specially gave him the confidence for the mountains. In 2023 he survived very well until the second week but then began to lose form. At the Giro here, with a new team, came a new opportunity. But the Briton had spent the entire spring in good form, and arrived at the Giro without an altitude camp and without the preparation his rivals had.

Stage wins and breakaways could've been a more realistic goal, but the Briton gave it a shot anyway, despite clearly not having the legs. He finished the race in 16th place, and crashed on the gravel stage where he was the main favourite. Far from the ideal Grand Tour debut for Q36.5, where he failed to meet expectations.

But after a reset throughout the summer, in August when he got back to racing consistently we've seen a different Pidcock. An estimate of 7.5W/Kg at the Arctic Race of Norway's summit finish was a great sign, in which he beat an equally impressive Corbin Strong but was unable to defeat him in GC. However this time he had prepared perfectly for a Grand Tour, and that was the Vuelta a España.

The final Grand Tour of the season, known for it's steep climbs, lack of multi-mountain stages, and hot weather, was perfect for the Briton. He started the race hoping for a Top10 but in the summit finish to Estacion de Valdezcaray on stage 9, where Jonas Vingegaard carved a key gap to João Almeida, it was Pidcock who followed Almeida and distanced the rest. An impressive climbing performance, backed by a roaring attacking into stage 11 in Bilbao where he was also set to win the stage alongside red jersey Jonas Vingegaard, but saw protestors force a stage neutralization in the end.

But with these performances came a third place in the overall classification, and throughout the many summit finishes the race still had in store including the mythical Angliru, La Farrapona, El Morredero and Bola del Mundo, Pidcock held his own and finished on the podium, confirming his status as a Grand Tour rider at age 26 and finally fulfilling this potential.

His end of the season still featured a 10th at the Kigali World Championships, second at the Giro dell'Emilia, and on consecutive days he finished sixth at Il Lombardia and the Gravel World Championships in Limburg. The real Pidcock is back and his strong form leads way to a rider of incredible versatility, like almost no other in professional cycling.

At the end of the day we can safely say this transfer was a huge hit.