The future of
Tom Pidcock is very much up in the air currently. After being controversially omitted from
INEOS Grenadiers' Il Lombardia roster following a last minute call from the team's upper management, the Brit looks set for a transfer away.
Rumours have circulated of interest from teams such as Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, thanks in part to Pidcock being a Red Bull sponsored rider, and the ambitious Swiss continental team, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team in recent days. According to a report by the respected journalist Daniel Benson however, another team has entered the race...
Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
"Just as things were on the up after a turbulent end to the year I am deselected for Lombardia tomorrow," wrote Pidcock on his
official Instagram account after being informed of his omission from the INEOS lineup for the year's final monument. "I am in great shape and was really looking forward to it! Good luck to the boys, I guess off season starts early. Thanks for everyone’s support even in the tough times."
The potential of a move to Team Visma | Lease a Bike is certainly an intriguing one. Two of the world's premier cross-discipline talents in Pidcock and
Wout van Aert on the same team and racing in the same colours during the cyclocross winter. The boosts to Visma's Classics armada that flattered to deceive in 2024 also makes it a relatively sensible move for both rider and team.
Given riders such as Dylan van Baarle and Ben Tulett have made the switch from the INEOS Grenadiers to Team Visma | Lease a Bike as well, it's certainly not a path untread. Although Visma have been linked with other riders, as of the time of writing, the team still has two spots open in its 30-man roster for the 2025 season. Could Tom Pidcock fill one of those gaps?
Visma, save your $$$. You have better ways to spend 4 million.
I think the real issues are that Pidcock:
1) Started in MTB where you ride for yourself and not a team.
2) Has been coddled by British media as a gifted once-in-a-generation talent who is destined for greatness, which has got to his young head.
well THIS seems like a bad idea. might as well try to put wout and MATHIEU on the same team. tom and wout have way too many of the same goals, unless something has changed that i don’t know about. let’s say they do it. season starts with milano — san remo. who is the team riding for, tom or wout? rinse and repeat, for the rest of the season…
Maybe they think it’ll replace Rogliç (who never had problems with Wout) and allow them to do another podium sweep (the Vuelta kind not the Tour kind) ;-)
you’d need to convince tom that while mathieu and tadej are around there’s no point in focusing on the spring classics and he just needs to learn how to be the best gc rider he can possibly be. i mean, on PAPER that’s a pretty strong argument, but i’m not at all sure you could sell it to pidcock.
I doubt they have the money for it. Not 4 million quid
they just cleared primož’s millions off the books, didn’t they?
As a Visma fan....no thanks. Some great riders have come on board and been able to fit nicely within the ethic and hierarchy of the team, but Pidcock does not seem like that kind of guy to me. Red Bull makes more sense anyway, because of both the sponsorhip and the opportunities he'd have.
Yeah, it feels odd. Pidcock should go for a team where he can be the outright leader because let's be honest, he's not a team player.