Tom Pidcock went rogue for the Worlds - 200g-lighter wheel switch revealed after Montreal Rainbow Jersey gamble
Cycling
Tom Pidcock went to Montreal chasing another rainbow jersey and, it turns out, even his usual Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team equipment was not guaranteed a place on the start line.
Rather than race the World Championships on the Zipp wheels supplied to his Pinarello Q36.5 trade team, Pidcock switched to a set of Partington R-Series wheels from the Australian manufacturer. There was no attempt to disguise the move either, with the Partington branding clearly visible throughout Sunday's elite men's road race.
The 50mm R-Series setup Pidcock appears to have used is listed at around 1,200 grams, approximately 200 grams lighter than the Zipp 454 NSW wheels he usually races.
His tyre choice followed the same theme. Pidcock paired the wheels with 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed tubeless tyres, normally marketed heavily towards time trial use and low rolling resistance, while Partington's wheels use carbon fibre spokes rather than the steel spokes found in his usual Zipps.
World Championships offer riders a rare chance to step outside their normal sponsor commitments because they are representing their countries rather than trade teams. There was a time when seeing riders turn up at the Worlds on different wheels was nothing particularly remarkable, but it has become far less common as equipment deals and team setups have grown increasingly integrated.
Pidcock was relentless in his attacking, but ultimately missed out on the medals
Everything pointed towards one big shot in Montreal
The World Championships had been circled as one of Pidcock's major opportunities long before Sunday.
Tadej Pogacar was absent after the injuries that ended his season, opening up a race that would otherwise have revolved heavily around the defending champion. Pidcock also arrived in Canada fresh from another mountain bike world title earlier in September and had spoken openly about what adding the road rainbow jersey would mean.
It would have been, in his own words, “truly amazing”.
Read also
France set about making the race brutally hard from distance and the attacks kept coming long before the final laps. Pidcock then hit the deck, chased his way back and was still right in the middle of things when Brandon McNulty launched the move that eventually won the title.
The American attacked with around 33 kilometres remaining and built an advantage of more than a minute before the final lap suddenly brought him back within reach. Pidcock was one of those still trying to finish the job. Along with Giulio Ciccone, he helped drive the chase on the final ascent of Camillien-Houde as McNulty's advantage tumbled towards ten seconds. The momentum behind disappeared again once they crested the climb.
The presence of Matteo Jorgenson and Quinn Simmons gave the United States two more cards in the chasing group, while Pidcock was also frustrated by Isaac del Toro's reluctance to fully commit with his UAE Team Emirates-XRG trade teammate McNulty alone up the road.
McNulty found his rhythm again and reached the line 13 seconds ahead of Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel. Pidcock eventually finished seventh after an afternoon spent crashing, chasing back and still trying to drag himself into the medal fight. “There isn’t much more I could have done,” he said afterwards.
A few days on, the Partington switch adds another detail to just how seriously Pidcock had targeted Montreal. Whether 200 grams made any measurable difference after 274 kilometres, a crash and more than six hours of racing is impossible to say.
The rainbow jersey escaped him in Montreal. If another similarly open World Championship comes around, it will be interesting to see whether Pidcock goes rogue again.
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- No org will admit fault until the evidence in overwhelming and not even then. They have protected abusers and criminals.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- Schreiber won. UCI please admit your fault and correct result.averagecyclist10-11-2026
- She deviated from her line - end of
leedorney10-11-2026 - If I was Lucinda Brand, I'd refuse to wear the jersey. Is there a rule that she "has to" wear it, as the winner? It would certainly feel like stolen valor.wrsty10-11-2026
- but don't let your socks be too long or handlebars be a cm too narrow.mij10-11-2026
- Saw a casual interview with Geraint Thomas and him a few years ago. Seems like a nice laid guy and I wish him well.GregT10-11-2026
- Ernesto Maggioni - The president of the commissaires Mafia. It is getting evident that this guy is basically "Iamalwaysrightandyouarestupidsoiwontlistentoyou" kind of guy. So fire him so that he can be always right in his homeabstractengineer10-11-2026
- Somehow it has got into his mind that he is a GC rider. He is primarily a classics and stage rider who can perform on GC given his day. As a result he is wasting his time on TDF GC and once committed to GC you are too tired to do anything else.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment