"You don't just kick double Olympic champions in the ass" - Michel Wuyts critical INEOS' treatment of Tom Pidcock
Cycling
Tom Pidcock's future has been one of the most discussed topics in the cycling world towards the end of the 2024 season. After being controversially left out of INEOS Grenadiers' Il Lombardia lineup there seemed to be no future for the Brit at the team, with rumours of moves to Q36.5 or even Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.
As the 2025 season gets ever nearer though, Pidcock now looks set to continue on with the INEOS Grenadiers as the British team look to regroup and reassess after some disappointing campaigns, making wholesale changes to the performance staff. According to the experienced and respected Belgian cycling expert Michel Wuyts though, the treatment of Pidcock from the INEOS Grenadiers has left a lot to be desired.
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"The most amazing thing was that INEOS initially saw no problem with that (the reported move to the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team ed.). 'Good that we are rid of that troublemaker,' the followers of owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe must have thought," Wuyts says in his column for HLN. "They even wanted to extend a helping hand to Q36.5 by paying part of his wages. I suppose Tommy from Leeds, after that bit of brilliance in Emilia, gave his leaders a good talking to. Like 'you see, gentlemen know-it-alls'. 'No Lombardy then, Mr Pidcock. And kick it off. There's no way to gauge your performance.'"
Given Pidcock's standing as one of the INEOS Grenadiers most likely race winners though, Wuyts doesn't feel this was the best approach. "You don't just kick Olympic champions — doubles especially — and Members of the British Empire in the ass," says the Belgian. "They belong to the secure patrimony. Then I prefer a nice pillow full of duck feathers down underneath."
"No, they won't win the Tour," he concludes. "And Pidcock? Whether he will feature more prominently depends on a change in mentality. Completing a build-up programme towards his road campaign more closely is needed. Growing in openness and developing valued leadership becomes essential. ‘May God bless you, Tom.’"
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.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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