It looked like it was all over for Tom Pidcock. With 23km to go on stage nine of the Tour de France, the Pinarello Q36.5 rider sat up in his saddle, gestured down to his bike, and wafted his right arm in frustration. A mechanical – at the cruellest time, on one of his best days – appeared to have put him out of a four-up breakaway finale.

He spun his pedals briskly, and still the gears would not kick in. Then, after a moment of panic, he was riding again, back into the lead group, and on to the finale in Ussel.

Pidcock ultimately placed third in the sprint, behind the day’s winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility). But it wasn’t a clean dash for the Briton. Afterwards, as he warmed down in the shade of his team bus, he explained what had gone wrong.

“In the final, my shifter stopped working,” Pidcock said. “I was out the back of the group on the last climb, and then I realised that the top button [the satellite shifter inside the hood] was working.

“Then once I got to the sprint, I was focused, and I was just instinctively on the drops and I couldn’t change gear anymore. Then I had to go on the hoods. It’s a shame.”

In previous near misses at the Tour – namely on stage nine in 2024 when he placed second to Anthony Turgis in Troyes – Pidcock has cut a dejected figure beyond the finish line. On Sunday, however, he returned to his team bus smiling, hitching a lift on the back of his team-mate Quinten Hermans’s bike.

The finale may not have played out how he wanted, but the performance showed his form is there.

“I think I was going super-well today,” Pidcock said. “I had really good legs, feeling strong. If I compare it to the last time I was in the breakaway at the Tour de France in the gravel stage, where I was second two years ago, today I was really in the game. That definitely shows that my level is higher.”

Pidcock had a stilted run-in to this year's Tour de France. He abandoned the Volta a Catalunya in March after crashing into a ravine and suffering ligament damage in his right knee. He then pulled out of June's Tour de Suisse, his final Tour tune-up, due to a viral infection, leaving him lacking in stage race preparation.

All things considered, then, his third place on Sunday left him feeling "not so disappointed".

“I don’t think I would have come round [Mathieu] anyway,” he said. “I’m quite happy. I’m just pleased that I could change gear in the end, and that I was not in the peloton. At least I was there sprinting for the win.”

Tom Pidcock and Pinarello Q36.5 kick off their 2026 Tour de France campaign with a challenging 19.6km team time trial around Barcelona's iconic roads on Saturday.

Pidcock comes into the three-week Grand Tour among the GC favourites and will be looking for the best possible start, which will require a strong, well-executed team effort. As the leader of Pinarello Q36.5, he has a host of riders to support him, including newly crowned British National Road Race Champion Fred Wright.

As a multi-discipline rider, Pidcock has myriad bike options at his disposal, but will naturally be riding a Pinarello Bolide F time trial bike. While his teammates will use the same bike, albeit with the regular navy-blue-and-gold livery, the Yorkshireman will ride a unique black-and-gold-themed machine.

Let's get into the details.

The Pinarello Bolide F underwent an update in 2024, borrowing technologies from the Bolide F HR – the bike used by the men’s and women’s Italian track teams in the Olympic endurance events. Look closely, and you'll notice the ribbed, drag-reducing edging on the seat tube and seatpost called AirStream technology.

The front end is fairly high, with a dual-stack, five-spacer system that supports custom one-piece bar extensions by Most. While the cups use standard foam padding, two 3D-printed strips - like the lattice structures you'll find on some saddles - are located on each extension to support the forearms.

The Bolide F is outfitted in a full SRAM Red AXS groupset, including a power meter. Pidcock has opted for a fairly traditional 1x gearing configuration comprising a single 60T chainring that drives a 10-36T cassette via very short 160mm cranks. While the X-Sync narrow/wide tooth profiling should keep the chain in place, there's a Wolf Tooth chainkeeper for added security.

Look closely, and you'll notice that the BB ends of both crankarms have been filled with 3D-printed plugs to smooth the surface and possibly save a few watts . There's also a waxed chain.

The wheels come compliments of Zipp. In this case, an 858 NSW front and Super-9 solid rear disc wrapped in surprisingly 'narrow' 28mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed tyres – no doubt a personal choice and aerodynamic decision. The Bolide can accommodate tyres as wide as 32mm, so the chosen configuration is far from maxed out.

Because SRAM only supplies its wireless blips with adhesive tape, to improve the look and ergonomics, Pidcock has used a 3D-printed Leap Components Aero Grip Blip Mount for the brake levers and TT Shift assembly to neatly house the blips. It looks super refined and also adds extra grip when holding the basebar during cornering. While Leap products are becoming popular among riders and teams who use SRAM, we're told Pidcock sourced these items himself.

The Prologo Predator saddle has become a popular choice for riders during time trials, thanks to its aero and ergonomically optimised shape. Pidcock's one is the new 02 version, which gets added padding and grip from Connect Power Control technology strips along the top. This model is constructed from injected carbon fibre and uses a standard Nack (nano carbon-fibre) 7x9mm rail - and is compatible with any seatpost. At £520 a pop, it's not a cheap component, but at 163g it is light and promises a 6.4-Watt saving over the previous model.

The finishing touches include a pair of Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100 pedals and a Taxc time trial bottle cage.

With many fully built time trial bikes tipping the scales at between 9-10kg, Pidcock's Pinarello Bolide F weighed in at a feathery 8.85kg.

Pinarello Bolide F TT bike specs

• Frameset: TorayCa 1100G, TiCR
• Fork: Bolide TT Onda Fork with ForkFlap
• Cockpit: Custom Most TT basebar and extensions
• Seatpost: Pinarello Aero
• Groupset: SRAM Red AXS 60T, 10-36T
• Wheelset: Zipp 858 NSW front/ Super-9 Disc rear
• Tyres: Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed 28mm
• Saddle: Prologo Predator 01//TT
• Weight: 8.85kg (with pedals)

Tom Pidcock will lead Pinarello Q36.5 at its first appearance at the Tour de France, it was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon,

The 26-year-old returns to the Tour this season after missing the 2025 edition due to his ProTeam not being invited; with Pinarello Q36.5 on the start line, the Yorkshireman returns.

He will be joined by British champion Fred Wright, alongside Xabier Mikel Azparren, Chris Harper, Quinten Hermans, Damien Howson, Xandro Meurisse and Brent Van Moer.

The Tour returns to Alpe d'Huez for two stages this July, for the first time since Pidcock won atop the mountain in 2022. It remains his sole stage win to date, although he did come close with second-place on the gravel stage to Troyes in 2024. He finished third overall at last year's Vuelta a España, his best Grand Tour result to date.

Wright has finished in the top 10 on stages eight times, coming second once in 2022. He is yet to win a race other than the British National Championships, but has finished second twice this year. Harper rode the Giro d'Italia in May, and won a stage at the same race last year.

Team principal Doug Ryder said: "From day one, the Tour de France has been a clear objective for this project. To now be on the start line is an important step, but more importantly, it reflects the consistency of the work that’s gone into building this team.

"We come with a group that combines experience, versatility and the mindset we want to race with. Our approach is simple we’ll race proactively, look for opportunities every day and make sure we’re present throughout all three weeks.

"This milestone goes well beyond the eight riders selected. It’s the result of years of commitment from the staff, the belief within the organisation, and the support of our partners Q36.5, Pinarello, UBS and many others who’ve helped create an environment where performance can grow.

"Being here is significant, but for us it’s not an end point. It’s another step in the progression of the team."

The team are riding in a special kit for the Tour, in a lighter hue, "to give the riders a distinctively fresher summer-weather look and feel while standing out clearly in the peloton throughout July".

Tom Pidcock will not start the Tour de Suisse on Wednesday after missing training days due to a mild viral infection.

The Briton was due to lead Pinarello Q36.5 at the five-stage race as part of his preparation for the Tour de France, which begins in less than three weeks.

Instead, and "health permitting", Pidcock will compete in the one-day Andorra MoraBanc Classica on 21 June, his team said in a statement.

"Following a small number of missed training days at the teams altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada due to contracting a mild viral infection, the Pinarello Q 36.5 Pro Cycling Team has decided to amend Tom Pidcock’s June race programme to allow for additional recovery and training time," the team said.

"As such the Tour of Switzerland has been removed from his race calendar to be replaced, health permitting, by the Andorra MoraBanc Classica on 21 June.

"While disappointed to miss the Team's home race, Tom has returned home to Andorra where he will continue to train and is now very much looking forward to competing on his adopted home roads around the mountains of Andorra.

"Further updates will be provided in due course."

The team made no mention of changes to Pidcock's plans for the Tour de France, where he is still expected to compete.

The 26-year-old last competed at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Nové Město, Czech Republic, on 24 May. The Olympic champion won the cross-country event, and finished second in the short track the same day. He hasn't competed on the road since he placed second at Eschborn-Frankfurt on 1 May.

Earlier this month, Pidcock travelled to Sierra Nevada, Spain, for a pre-Tour training camp with his Pinarello Q36.5 team-mates.

He has said he will not target the general classification at this year's race, despite finishing third at the Vuelta a España last September.

“This year I’m not going with any expectations,” he said on the Fredono Going Mental podcast. “I want to race, and I want to have fun, and the rest will come. If I’m not saying, ‘Ok, I want to win a stage, I want to podium, I want to be top five,’ or whatever it is, then there is nothing to fail at.”

The Tour de France begins on 4 July with a team time trial in Barcelona, Spain.

Tom Pidcock wants to retire after the 2036 Olympics, he revealed in an interview this week, with his biggest goal being the World Championships road race.

In an wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, published on Wednesday, the Pinarello-Q36.5 rider also argued that he could win a Grand Tour "in the right situation", but that riding them does not excite him.

The British rider will return to the Tour de France next month after missing out last year, due to his team not being invited; a year on, he will be able to race at the biggest race of all once again. It follows his best Grand Tour result to date, third at the Vuelta a España last year.

"The Grand Tour thing doesn’t really excite me so much, but it’s an achievement," he said. "If I manage to win a Grand Tour it will be the biggest achievement in my career, because for me to concentrate for three weeks is difficult.

"But I want to win the road worlds. Then I will have won all three disciplines. And the gravel worlds, actually, but if that never happens I’m not so bothered. I want a Monument. And for sure, I’m going for three Olympic medals. My goal is to finish my career after five Olympics, so after the 2036 Olympic Games I’ll retire."

Pidcock has already won two Olympic gold medals, both in cross-country mountain biking, and also been world champion in cyclo-cross and XC MTB.

There is now evidence that Pidcock can perform consistently over three weeks, something he is now taking confidence from. However, the Tour is a step up from the Vuelta, with Tadej Pogačar presence being the biggest challenge.

"Everything I’ve ever achieved in my career, I’ve always imagined doing it first before I’ve done it," he explained. "I’ve never done anything out of the blue, like magic. So having that stepping stone, I know I can be on the podium again.

"I’m not saying that I have the ability right now to beat Tadej and [Paul] Seixas and [Jonas] Vingegaard. But in the right situation, I can see it happening. And with the right situation, I can win a Grand Tour."

This year, he has won three times, and notably finished second at Milan-San Remo behind Pogačar, on top of the five wins he took in 2025. It is an uptick in form since he left what was then Ineos Grenadiers for Q36.5.

"I’m a lot happier," he said. "It’s no secret that it was not going well at Ineos. It’s brilliant and I also think you see that in my results. But we left on good terms."

Tom Pidcock resumed his preparation for the Tour de France by winning the cross country race at the Mountain Bike World Series in Czechia.

Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) hasn't raced since finishing second at the Eschborn Frankfurt on May 2nd, but returned to the dirt in search of form and a fifth win at the Nové Město course.

Riding for Pinarello Q36.5, Pidcock has a had a good season on the road, winning Milano-Torino, with taking stage victories at the Vuelta Andalucia and Tour of the Alps. He also took a nail biting second place behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at Milan-San Remo in March. However, a knee injury sustained in a terrifying crash the Volta Ciclista a Cayalunya has disrupted his preparation for July's Tour de France.

Pidcock is slated to return to the road at the Tour de Suisse in the middle of June. However, as a former world and reigning and double Olympic mountain bike champion, Pidcock used this weekend's World Series races in Nové Město to both accrue qualification points and as part of his preparation for the summer's challenges.

The weekend's racing consists of both short course (XCC) and the longer cross-country races (XCO), Pidcock finishing second in the XCC and winning the XCO on Sunday. His win was definitive, hitting the front on the first of eight laps, though he lost that place, when he returned to the lead on the following lap he stayed there. Despite a tough battle with French champion Luca Martin, Pidcock held him off to win by 18 seconds.

Pidcock seemed to take it easy during the early laps of Saturday's short course race, remaining n last place until the fifth lap when he moved up through the pack, taking a place at or near the front next time round.

On the closing lap Pidcock attacked hard on the back of the course, stretch the bunch before opening his sprint on the uphill, tarmac drag to the line, only to be pipped at the post by Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division).

In the women's events, Britain's former world champion, Evie Richards (Trek Factory) recovered for a late crash to finish fifth in Saturday's short track event, but suffered a a big off on one of the course's technical descents and failed to finish the cross country race.

Next month Pidcock will tackle the five day Tour de Suisse, which consists of three lumpy stages, a flat individual time trial and conclude with a brutal mountain stage. Starting and finishing in Villars-sur-Ollon, the 151km stage will surely decide the general classification, and with Pogačar on the provisional start list the outcome could be a foregone conclusion.

Tom Pidcock has posted onboard footage of himself driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RS around the Nurburgring in Germany setting an impressive time on the famous track less than two months before the Tour de France

Sharing the video on Facebook with the caption “a week for a mental refresh before a big summer,” the double Olympic mountain bike champion was clearly pushing very hard on the section of the German circuit used by enthusiast drivers, a loop that excludes part of the main straight from the full Nordschleife layout used by manufacturers for official lap records.

The 6 minutes 52.37 seconds time is a quick one by amateur standards. Some quick research uncovers that capable enthusiast drivers in stock 911 Carrera S models typically post bridge-to-gantry laps in the 7:35 range: Pidcock is more than 40 seconds clear of that benchmark, albeit in a significantly more capable car.

The 992-generation GT3 RS, with its enormous rear wing, is the most track-focused 911 Porsche currently builds, with active aero, a 9000rpm rev limit, and 518 horsepower from its naturally aspirated flat-six engine. In the hands of Porsche’s professional development drivers, the same car has lapped the full Nordschleife in 6:44.

The footage shows Pidcock driving at high speed in fifth gear, with the GT3 RS in track mode and with DRS active, F1-derived technology designed to help him go as fast as humanly possible.

A spokesperson for Pinarello-Q36.5 told Cycling Weekly that Pidcock likes fast cars and that the trip formed part of a planned recovery period within his training programme.

“Tom has a long-standing passion for cars and this was simply one of the ways he chose to unwind during a planned rest period. The activity took place in a structured and controlled environment, was carried out responsibly, and happened during a scheduled recovery period within his programme,” the spokesperson said.

Pidcock will lead Pinarello Q36.5 at the Tour de France in July, the team's first appearance at the race as automatic invitees following their promotion among the top-ranked WorldTour pro teams. His Spring season has so far included second place at Milan-San Remo behind Tadej Pogacar, victory at Milano-Torino, and a stage win at the Tour of the Alps in his comeback from a heavy crash at the Volta de Catalunya. The Tour de France begins in Barcelona on 4 July.

Tom Pidcock sprinted to victory on stage three of the Tour of the Alps in Arco on Wednesday, less than a month after crashing into a ravine.

The Pinarello Q36.5 rider out-powered Tommaso Dati (Team UKYO), the rider who beat him to the line on stage one, to take his third win of the season. Not normally known for his sprint, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) finished third.

Pidcock's Pinarello Q36.5 team had hunted down the early two-man break of Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek) and Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), and delivered Pidcock to victory.

Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) finished in the front group at the same time as Pidcock, maintaining his small lead in the general classification over Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), whose team-mate Egan Bernal scooped bonus seconds to move into third on GC.

"I think this win feels really nice," said Pidcock afterwards. "I mean, I'm struggling… well, I've been struggling. The first climb I was dropped and just made it over the top. So yeah, it feels even nicer than normal to win. The guys committed 100% to me, which is super nice, considering it wasn't evident that I would be there to finish it off."

He added: "The last time I was racing, I was in amazing shape. And, you know, today would have been relatively comfortable, to be honest, and now I was suffering, at the back. It's difficult to get your head around it and find enjoyment in that because it's pretty uncomfortable. But that's why it feels so good to finish off.

"I went too early for that last corner," he said. "I thought it was sooner when the barriers started and yeah it was quite far, so I was a bit worried. But I saw Egan [Bernal] was the first guy on my wheel, so I thought… Egan is not slow, but I can beat Egan in a sprint and I just went full to the line."

Pidcock's coach Kurt Bogaerts was at pains to point out that the win does not mean Pidcock is back on top form. It was his sprinting ability that carried him through, he said, and his near-seven-minute loss yesterday was a better indicator of his overall shape.

"It's a victory that he was able to be on the [Tour of the Alps] start line after his crash," Bogaerts said. "It's basically a hard training week to try to pick up some condition, and not make the gap between Catalunya [where he crashed] and the Tour too big with no racing. It was a complex injury, and we worked really hard with the team to help him recover and be able to go on the bike.

"I think Tom never in his life, was not able to do 11 days of anything, not even running, even in the off-season," Bogaerts said. "But that needed to be respected for the healing."

He added: "We were able to train a couple of days, and now it's just suffering in the race to try to get better. If it's really nice a day like today, if you can ask for the commitment of the guys, and then you can win the stage."

Despite moving up 18 places, Pidcock remains a long way down on GC in 42nd place, 6:46 down.

Tomorrow's stage four sees the riders undertake a big mountains stage over 168km from Arco to Trento, with 4,111 climbing metres. It is sure to prove a tough day out for Pidcock, but it would be no surprise to see him move further up the GC.

Results

Tour of the Alps 2026, stage 2: Latsch > Arco, 174,5km

1. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling, 174.5km in 4:23:24
2. Tommaso Dati (Ita) Team Ukyo
3. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Luca Paletti (Ita) Bardiani CSF 7 Saber
5. Alexandr Vlasov (Rus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
6. Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
7. Chris Hamilton (Aus) Picnic PostNL
8. Jacob Omrzel (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
9. Florian Storck (Ger) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, all at same time

General Classification after stage 3

1. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, in 11:13:06
2. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +4s
3. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +6s
4. Mattia Gaffuri (Ita) Picnic PostNL, at same time
5. Alexandr Vlasov (Rus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +10s
6. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +19s
7. Jacob Omrzel (Slov) Bahrain Victorious, +29s
8. Chris Harper (Aus) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling
9. Alex Tolio (Ita) Bardiani CSF 7 Saber
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, all at same time

Tom Pidcock has said that his plunge into a ravine at the Volta a Catalunya last month has not affected his famous descending prowess.

"It was just a combination of a few factors, and then it all went wrong," the Pinarello Q36.5 rider told Cycling Weekly ahead of the first stage of this week's Tour of the Alps. "So if one thing hadn't have happened, then I wouldn't have crashed. So it was an unfortunate event, it wasn't so much taking risks, or making a mistake or going beyond my limits. It was just a stupid accident."

The 26-year-old was a last-minute addition to his team's roster for the five-day stage race, which spans Austria and Italy – a decision taken after it became apparent that the ligament damage to his knee and a stress fracture to his tibia had healed sufficiently for him to ride.

"I basically didn't train for two weeks, so it wasn't ideal," he said on Monday when asked about the impact of the crash on what had been some excellent early-season form. "I think I was in really good shape, but sometimes that's just how it is."

Pidcock won Milan-Torino, as well as placing a close second behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at Milan-San Remo, and seventh in Strade Bianche.

He credited a month spent in Chile at altitude as playing a part in that form, but adds: "We've worked hard, and I've built on last year, I've kept improving and improving. I think it's normal at my age that I should be improving every year."

Despite those two weeks off the bike he says cycling has actually been "relatively easy" on his injuries, meaning he could progress fast.

With the Ardennes races, which started on Sunday the with Amstel Gold Race, originally forming the major goal of Pidcock's season, he still plans to race Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday, two days after the Tour of the Alps finishes.

For this week, he says: "I think anything is a bonus, any result I get or whatever is a bonus. I'm feeling really quite good in training, but it rarely relates to the racing."

Among Pidcock's rivals at the Tour of the Alps will be defending champion Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

Tom Pidcock pronounced himself "very lucky to be OK" after his potentially catastrophic fall into a ravine at last week's Volta a Catalunya.

But for all Pidcock's insistence that he is alright, the team is taking a cautious approach to his recovery. His Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling team boss Doug Ryder has now said that it is not yet clear when he'll be able to start riding again.

Speaking to Domestique, he said: “There’s no firm idea or understanding when he will be back on a bike or racing at the moment. We’re just trying to get the fluid off the knee and the swelling down and all that kind of stuff, so we just have to wait.

He added: “As the swelling goes down, we can start to use the CT scans to understand more of the details. There’s been some trauma there, but it all depends on how he responds, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

“We’d rather be a bit more cautious," he said. "The knee has many joints and facets to it, so you’ve got to be quite cautious around that. We’re being cautious to make sure that he has a good recovery, and we don’t push it too early.”

After a post-crash medical evaluation, Pidcock's team announced that he'd hurt his wrist and knee and had sustained bone and ligament damage. Pidcock himself posted images of his swollen knee on social media and added: "I'm going to self-proclaim as a ninja crasher, 60kph off a mountain road and I'm relatively OK."

Pidcock was one of a number of riders to come down on the descent of the penultimate climb on stage five of the Spanish stage race, which was won that day, and overall, by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). He had been sitting in third place on GC at the start of the day, but lost more than 30 minutes as he rode carefully to the finish. He did not start the next day.

Following Catalunya, the Yorkshire rider was due to resume racing in Belgium at De Brabantse Pijl – scene of Pidcock's first professional victory – on 17 April, before going on to race the Ardennes Classics and then the Tour de France in July.

However, any racing this month now hangs in the balance as his team try to ascertain the full extent of any damage.

Tom Pidcock pronounced himself "very lucky" to be alright after crashing into a ravine on stage five of the Volta a Catalunya on Friday, although it was revealed on Saturday that the Briton had suffered knee and wrist injuries.

The Pinarello Q36.5 rider was one of a number of riders who came down on the penultimate descent of what was a major mountains day, the Collada de Sobirana. The drop into the ravine was described in a team statement as "significant".

He did not start stage six as a result, after medical evaluation.

“Due to his crash, he suffered injuries, most likely bone and ligament damage, in particular to his right knee and also right wrist," Lorenz Emmert, Chief Medical Team Doctor, said in a team statement.

"Unfortunately, we had to make the decision to take him out of the race.

"Further clinical evaluation and imaging will follow in the next days, additionally to the already initiated healing process.”

“We did everything to try to make it to the start but it’s not possible,” Pidcock added

"I fought to finish the stage yesterday [Friday] to make sure I had the option to continue. Now the focus is on recovery, and I’ll be back.”

After a change of bikes on Friday, he was able to continue, but with a final major climb still to go, Pidcock ended up losing a lot of time, coming in 116th, 29:04 down on stage winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). He also fell from third overall to 74th, dashing any GC hopes for the seven-stage race.

“I was drinking on the descent and misjudged a corner," he said in a statement after the stage. "I overshot it and went down the ravine. It was like one of these horror crashes you see, but I’m very lucky that I am OK. I'll go for a check but I think I'm OK.

“I am lucky I could talk on the radio," he added. "I was far from the road and nobody knew I was there. I’m happy I could finish the stage.”

The Yorkshire rider has so far enjoyed a highly promising season, placing third overall at the Vuelta a Andalucía and a heartbreakingly close second to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at Milan-San Remo. His Volta a Catalunya had been going swimmingly too, with third places on stages one and four, and a sixth place on stage three – all of them lumpy and testing.

Pidcock's next block of racing was set to start in mid-April, with Brabantse Pijl followed by Ardennes Week.

The difference, after six and a half hours, was a fraction of a second. Only a bike throw could separate Tadej Pogačar and Tom Pidcock at Milan-San Remo, and the Briton, having held the world champion so masterfully on a leash, finished a rim’s width short.

Pidcock’s feeling in the aftermath was bittersweetness. He told reporters in the mixed zone that he was “pretty disappointed”, but nonetheless proud of his ride: “What I did was quite amazing,” he said.

Although there was no Via Roma win, no toppling of the world’s best rider, the second place signalled something pivotal: Pidcock is in the realm of the greats. A Monument victory now seems only a matter of time away.

For Pidcock's coach, Kurt Bogaerts, it's all about progression.

“Tom, for me, is an example of continuous work,” Bogaerts told Cycling Weekly two days on from Milan-San Remo. “He searches his limits every year. With workload and intensity, it’s building on the year before and progressing on that. That’s what Tom does already year after year, and that’s where you see a continuous trend of improving.”

Bogaerts has worked with Pidcock since 2018, when the Yorkshireman was racing as a teenager in the British domestic circuit for Team Wiggins. The year Pidcock signed for Ineos Grenadiers, 2021, Bogaerts joined the team as an assistant sports director, and then followed his mentee last year to Pinarello Q36.5.

“In the last years, his physical strength has really come up,” Bogaerts said. “People in the beginning maybe thought he did a lot on skills, but I never saw him like that, to be honest. If, as a junior, you win the World Championships time trial [as Pidcock did in 2017], then already at a young age you show a lot of physical capabilities.”

Proof of that progression came at last year’s Vuelta a España. Though a stage win eluded him, Pidcock rode commandingly to his first Grand Tour podium, earning third overall. His second place at San Remo on Saturday, in a field containing Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), showed a step-up in one-day racing, too.

Bogaerts is now confident there's more to come. “He’s still young – he’s 26 – so the better years are ahead of him,” the coach said.

“I think he’s still going to improve [over the next] couple of years. That’s what I predict. Of course, that goes hand in hand with continuing doing the work and continuing having a good work ethic, and having a bit of luck also.”

At San Remo, Pidcock was unfaltering against Pogačar’s attacks. He followed the world champion over the Cipressa, hugged his wheel tightly on the Poggio, mimicking each acceleration, and held on when no-one else could, not even Van der Poel, the Monument’s two-time winner.

Along the finishing straight, again, it was Pogačar who kicked first. Pidcock edged right, came out to round him on the left, and just as the pair drew shoulder to shoulder, the final act in their duel, the line arrived too soon for the Briton. Four centimetres too soon, Pidcock reckoned afterwards.

“It hurts to be so close,” Pidcock said. Was there anything his coach thought he could have done differently? “I think not much, to be honest,” Bogaerts said. “I think he executed really well, rode really maturely, co-operated where he needed to co-operate.

“With a sprint, I think you can say many things. I think he had a strategy, and the other one [Pogačar] was just a little bit faster. I don’t think he could have done much more than he did.”

Some wondered if Pidcock might have attacked on the descent of the Poggio, with around 7km to go. “That wouldn’t make any difference,” Bogaerts said.

“Tadej is a really good bike rider and he has good skills. He prepared this race to the smallest detail. I think that would not be smart [to attack on the descent], and likely would have ended up in a crash, maybe for both of them. That’s knowing that your competitor is well prepared and having respect for your competitor. They went fast downhill – even a few times, it was definitely fast enough.

“[Pidcock] could have won the race,” Bogaerts added. “I think that was definitely possible. I think there’s not much more you can do.”

It was that reality that left the Pinarello Q36.5 rider feeling bittersweet after the line. “I can’t help but be disappointed right now. It was so close to a Monument win, but I need to look at it from a wider perspective,” Pidcock said. “For sure, it must be one of the best days.”

The Briton hopes more good days will now follow, as he plots his season through this week’s Volta a Catalunya, via the Ardennes Classics, and then onto July’s Tour de France.

When he turns up at Milan-San Remo next March, the bookmakers will have him among the favourites – perhaps the favourite if Pogačar does not start. “Tom Pidcock was really strong,” the world champion said in his post-race interview. Don't be surprised if he's even stronger next year.

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) took victory in the Milano-Torino one-day race on Wednesday after powering away from the front runners on the final climb to the line.

That leading group included former winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), who came in third, just behind runner-up Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), who crossed the line four seconds behind Pidcock. Defending champion Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was not riding.

The 174km 1.Pro race, founded in 1876 and known as the oldest cycling race in the world, marked the Briton's second victory of the year following his stage win in the Vuelta a Andalucía last month

“It was a weird day," Pidcock said afterwards. "It felt like the first race of the season almost. With the race rhythm and all the accelerations all day, it felt a bit heavy-legged. Luckily at the end I had a kick there and could hold them off.

“Primož is hard to read," he added. "He’s always in the saddle. I was expecting him to be good there and I was hesitating to attack near the end. Everyone was looking pretty strong but I knew at one point I had to go.

“A win’s a win. They're not easy to come by. Of course it’s nice to get [my] hands in the air," he said.

The race, across the north of Italy, was largely flat bar two ascents of the Superga climb in the last 25km, the second of which hosted the finish. Predictably, the bunch caught the early break on the first climb, and then a 12-rider group – including Pidcock, Roglič et al – attacked over the top.

This splintered further on the final ascent, stretching 4.9km at an average of 9.1%, with Pidcock taking the spoils after attacking in the final kilometre.

Results

Milano-Torino, 178km

1. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, 174km in 3:48:45
2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +4s
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5s
4. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +11s
5. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, +13s
6. Jefferson Alexander Cepeda (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +15s
7. Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, +18s
8. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS-Astana, +25s
9. Alessandro Fancellu (Ita) MBH Bank-CSB Telecom Fort, +36s
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +41s

There were tears in Tom Pidcock’s eyes in the Piazza del Campo at the end of Strade Bianche. Tears of frustration, brought on by an untimely bike mechanical, and also, in his words, a feeling of "sombreness" following another display of Tadej Pogačar dominance.

The Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider was one of the few to be with the world champion on the Monte Sante Marie sector with 79km to go of the race, and briefly appeared able to follow the Slovenian, until his chain slipped and the race was gone.

Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then rode away for his fourth title – his third in a row – while Pidcock finished seventh, having expended his energy chasing back.

“I think you can feel a bit of sombreness here with everyone, with Visma behind me as well,” Pidcock told TNT Sports post-race, moments after exchanging a resigned look and greeting with Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike.

“With UAE like that, there’s not much you can do. My chain fell off twice on Sante Marie, that really killed my momentum, but I wouldn’t have beaten Tadej anyway.

“I don’t think it changed much apart from taking a bit more out of me. It’s so difficult in the group behind when you know the race has gone. You can always think this is just the race now, but it’s not really how it is, when one guy’s in front.”

It had been a day of UAE Team Emirates-XRG domination. The team set such a pace through the day that no-one could escape the peloton, and orchestrated the race perfectly for Pogačar’s escape on the Sante Marie. In the end, it was the world champion that finished it off, but he was helped to that point by Jan Christen, Florian Vermeersch, Isaac del Toro and others. Once Pogačar was alone, a sense of inevitability descended on the race, despite there still being two hours left.

Did Pidcock ever feel that the gap could be closed? “At one point, yeah,” he said. “But I think that’s a pretty big gap when people are thinking about the final.”

With 17km to go, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) slipped off the front, followed by Del Toro, and with the move went Pidcock's shot at a podium.

The British rider still remains the last person not called Tadej Pogačar to win Strade Bianche, doing so in 2023. If the Slovenian keeps coming back to the Tuscan Classic, it's hard to see that statistic changing.

It's Paris-Roubaix with hard, hard hills; a Grand Tour gravel epic on steroids; it's an Ardennes Classic with off-road elements. It's Strade Bianche, and once again it looks set to be a thriller.

It's a race with so many tasty ingredients that many feel it ought to join the list of Monuments that sit at the top of the one-day racing tree.

Both men's and women's races run on the same day, Saturday 7 March, and will feature some of cycling's biggest names. This year's races feature a slightly shorter course and, in the case of the men's event, significantly less gravel with the hope of producing a more competitive event – Tadej Pogačar has one the last two editions with long solo attacks.

Here are a few things we're really looking forward to this weekend, at what will be the second big European Classic of the season. We are salivating at the prospect already.

King vs Pretender: Paul Seixas takes on Tadej Pogačar

The ruler must now face the young pretender. Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will go into the race as favourite, but as many eyes will surely be on French upstart Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CRG), who has been making waves already this season with a series of impressive wins that bely his 19 years.

Neither rider's recent results on paper tell the whole story, for Slovenia's Pogačar has yet to turn a pedal in anger this year and we have little concrete indication of his form. In the case of Seixas – he only took his first pro victory a fortnight ago, and that was at .Pro level – a WorldTour race like Strade Bianche is a step up.

In reality though, we can all be forgiven for presuming when it comes to Tadej Pogačar. The past two seasons have seen him imperious and almost unbeatable in races like this, not to mention he won Strade Bianche in both of those years. As for Seixas, it is his young age and the panache with which he has taken his two wins this season – in particular the one-day Faun Ardèche, where he won solo from long range with a 1:48 gap – that demand we take notice.

Speaking on this week's Watts Occurring podcast with Geraint Thomas, Seixas's DS at Decathlon CMA CGM Luke Rowe had this to say about him:

"He's legit. In the meeting before the race, that's what he said he was going to do. And if you look at the guys he rode off his wheel, if you look at the top 10… they're legit guys. This guy [Seixas] is special… 'F*** me, he's special. He's super professional, lovely bloke – just down to earth. He's still a kid, he's just a jolly kid riding his bike. He doesn't think about the consequences, he just goes and races. He just wants to win everything, smash everyone… he's a special guy."

With a near-190km distance and 11 classified climbs, the Faun Ardèche was not so different to Strade Bianche, minus the strength-sapping white roads, of course. The chances of him riding away from the entire field at Tuscany are slim, but it will be fascinating to watch him go toe to toe with the very best, and on the biggest of stages.

Will Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky extend their streak?

The past four editions of the women's race – the Strade Bianche Donne – have seen the spoils shared between Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez). These are arguable the two best riders in the women's peloton and Strade Bianche offers up the perfect platform where either of these riders, with their own particular abilities, can win. Since Kopecky's first win in 2022, they've taken it in turns, with Vollering the current defending champion.

Both women return again, with Dutchwoman Vollering looking in great form following a run of great results at the Setmana Valenciana – where she took two stages and the overall win; and Omloop Nieuwsblad – which she won. Kopecky, on the other hand, suffered a mechanical at Omloop, which is her one race so far this season, and was unable to capitalise on what she said were good feelings.

Vollering and Kopecky are unlikely to have things all their own way of course – see below for some of the other riders who have the ability to challenge for the win at Strade Bianche Donne.

Shorter, smoother, more open, but still brutal

The organiser of Strade Bianche, RCS, has shortened the course for both men and women, and taken gravel sectors out, with the aim of making the race more open. For the men, the distance is reduced from from 215 to 205km, and, in the men's race, removed two-and-a-half sectors of sterrati, bringing the amount of gravel in the event down by 18km. There is less removed in the women's race on both counts, with the distance reduced by just three kilometres to 133km. Two sectors of sterrati have also been removed in the early stages, making for a 16km reduction.

It feels like this was done with half an eye on Pogačar more than anything else, perhaps to rein in those long-range attacks that have become his trademark and can have the effect of nullifying a race after little more than the halfway mark, in extreme cases. However, the changes have been made in the first half, with the tough and hilly finale left in.

Challengers to the throne

Strade Bianche is about far more than just Tadej Pogacar and Paul Seixas, or Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky. In the men's event, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) will be taking the start. The Brit won the race in 2023 and has been among the best of the rest behind Pogačar in the two races since – last year, in fact, he was second. Pidcock loves this race and will be lining up with nothing on his mind but winning.

The provisional startlist also features Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), he of the impressive breakaways at last year's Tour de France; Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), who pushed Pogacar hard in another hilly Classic – Il Lombardia – last year; and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who will be looking forward to turning the tables on a run of recent bad luck.

In the women's race, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) heads up the challenge from riders whose surname is not Vollering or Kopecky. She has come second here three times (the last time being 2018) but the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner is still more than capable of winning the race. A recent second at Omloop suggests she's in great form.

Elsewhere Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) will make her season debut here. Her third place here last year – not to mention the fact she is the reigning Tour de France Femmes champ – suggests she is well capable of winning on the right day. Finally, Shirin van Anrooij will head up the Lidl-Trek squad. The young Dutch rider is yet to amass many wins but has a previous fifth place here (2024).

Tom Pidcock's coach Kurt Bogaerts has said that the presence of Tadej Pogačar is something to be accepted and relished as a challenge, rather than something to complain about.

The Pinarello-Q36.5 head of performance was speaking to Dutch outlet Wielerflits about the Briton's approach to this weekend's Strade Bianche – a race that he won back in 2023 but which UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Pogačar has made his own for the past two seasons.

"You're going to face him in all the big races, right?" Bogaerts said of the Slovenian. "So you have to deal with that. You have to try to be really good yourself and then see how you can battle him. I think something is definitely possible. If we aim for a good result, the rest will follow. We shouldn't complain. It's only good for the sport that Pogačar is interested in a wide range of races. Honestly, I like that."

He was responding to a comment suggesting it did not matter how well prepared Pidcock was, he would still have to face the defending champion.

Bogaerts added: "Last year, Tom went first. Not necessarily with the intention of anticipating, but mainly to play to his own strengths. Tom has a good sense of his capabilities, and then it's a matter of waiting to see how the opposition reacts. We're going to try to do that again. We're not averse to taking action ourselves, but we might end up in a scenario we have to follow."

He said Pidcock was "not losing any sleep" over a disappointing 48th place finish at Omloop Nieuwsblad, where he suffered with the cold after what Bogaerts said were poor clothing choices, and a crash.

"But he still managed to get back to the front from behind the last group. I don't really understand how he managed that… You can't do that if you're not in top form, I think," he said.

He called Strade Bianche "one of the races that [Pidcock] gets out of bed for" and is very passionate about. The Yorkshire rider has already done a recon ride himself, and the whole team is set to do another this week.

Things hadn't really "fallen into place" for Pidcock so far this year, said Bogaerts, with the issues at Omloop and a shortened Vuelta Murcia, for example. But his performance at the Ruta del Sol, where he won a stage, showed he was on good form.

Strade Bianche takes place this Saturday 7 March – if you want to follow the action, check out our streaming guide here.

Tom Pidcock kicked off his Spring Classics campaign at Opening Weekend’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Gent, Belgium – a 207.2km loop that takes in many of the familiar cobbles and bergs of the Flemish Ardennes. He came into the race in fine form, having won the fifth and final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía, but with Mathieu van der Poel, Kasper Asgreen, and Florian Vermeersch also on the start line, and with notably cold and damp conditions, a good result would always prove tough.

The Briton would eventually finish in a disappointing 48th position after battling the cold and crashes, ultimately losing contact with the peloton with 60km to go.

In terms of equipment, Pidcock opted for a fairly standard setup, save for the addition of a 1x drivetrain – a setup that proved immensely popular across all the teams. His size 465 Pinarello Dogma F frame might be one of the smaller sizes in the Italian bike maker’s range, but with a stack and reach of 525.2- and 372.2mm (a stack-to-reach ratio of 1.41), it allows for a very aggressive, aerodynamic position.

The Yorkshireman’s Most Talon UltraFast integrated handlebar was paired with a 120mm stem, which was among the shortest at the race, but not uncommon. The frame is painted in a stunning matte treatment with gold wordmark logos providing a vivid contrast to the satin-navy hue. It’s one classy-looking machine.

While the frame can accommodate tyre widths of up to 32mm, Pidcock - like much of the peloton - opted for 30mm rubber. In this case, a pair of Vittoria Corsa Pro wrapped around Zipp 303 SW wheels, complete with integrated AXS wheel sensor. Here, the gold Zipp decals and tan walls add an extra layer of visual drama and help create a cohesive package.

Component-wise, the Dogma F is outfitted with SRAM Red AXS, featuring a single 54T chainring that drives a 10-36T cassette via 165mm cranks. Despite the X-Sync narrow/wide tooth profile of the ring, a Wolf Tooth chainkeeper was fitted to ensure the chain stayed put over the choppy terrain and cobbled sections. The finishing kit comes compliments of the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling's sponsors – so there’s the proven Tacx Deva bottle cages, a Prologo Nago R4 PAS 137mm saddle, and Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100 pedals.

Even in Classics trim, where weight is not a priority, the Dogma F was the lightest bike we weighed at Opening Weekend at 7.18kg with pedals.

Specs

• Frameset: TorayCa M40X, TiCR
• Fork: eTICR Onda Fork with ForkFlap
• Cockpit: Most Talon Ultra Fast integrated cockpit
• Seatpost: Pinarello Aero
• Groupset: SRAM Red AXS 54T, 10-36T
• Wheelset: Zipp 303 SW
• Tyres: Vittoria Corsa Pro 30mm
• Saddle: Prologo Nago R4 PAS

Saturday 28 February

Men’s
Distance: 207.2km
Start: 10:05 Finish: 14:50 (GMT)

Women’s
Distance: 137.2km
Start: 12:35 Finish: 16:20 (GMT)

Omloop Nieuwsblad is the start of the Classics, one part of Opening Weekend. It heralds the full-on racing season, and the cobbled one-day events which are to come.

The race forms part of a double-header across the weekend, with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne following on the Sunday for the men, and Omloop van het Hageland for the women.

This is the 81st edition of the men's race, and the 21st of the women's, so it has some serious pedigree. Here's everything you need to know for the 2026 race.

Five things to watch out for

1. A sprinter’s race?

The men’s edition of Omloop last year finished in a sprint for the first time since 2021; it is the kind of race which seems to either have a solo winner or quite a large bunch in Ninove. With less of the relentless climbing that other Classics have, it could be a race which favours a rider like Biniam Girmay or Jasper Philipsen.

2. Dutch dominance

Five of the last seven women’s races have been won by the Netherlands; no particular surprise when you think of the Dutch dominance of women’s racing. If there’s a solo attack this year, you’d pin your hopes on Demi Vollering, while if it’s a sprint, Lorena Wiebes seems unbeatable. The record might well be extended.

3. British hopes

The list of top competitors for Omloop is peppered with Union Flags. Cat Ferguson, two-time victor this season already, is a serious contender in a selective sprint, while Tom Pidcock will be looking to beat his previous best result of fifth. That isn’t it though, with Anna Henderson, Matthew Brennan and Fred Wright all down to race.

4. Kuurne time

The younger sibling of Opening Weekend is Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, which takes place on the Sunday. It’sa 1.Pro race, so not all the big stars will turn out, but those that do will fight hard. It is the ultimate opportunity for someone to make up for a disappointing Saturday, if they have the legs. For the women, Omloop van het Hageland provides the same opportunity.

5. Classics narrative

Omloop is just five weeks out from the peak of the Classics season at the Tour of Flanders, followed a week later by Paris-Roubaix, and it might be Opening Weekend, but things that happen here have an impact throughout the rest of the season. If Mathieu van der Poel or Vollering win, then they will increase their favourite status. If there are surprise performances from unheralded riders, then they will be marked for the next few races. Anything could happen, and this is the start.

Focus on Muur van Gerrardsbergen

Omloop Nieuwsblad effectively runs as a mini-Tour of Flanders, but doesn’t include the Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg triple. Instead, it uses the old Flanders one-two finish of the Muur van Gerrardsbergen followed by the Bosberg.

The race will be decided on these cobbled climbs, even if there is a lone attacker at this point. De Muur is an iconic climb, and might only be 6.8% over 910 metres, but always has a say in Omloop. Whoever is first to the chapel at the top might just win the race.

How to watch

How to watch

It is on TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, accessible via a TV package or a Discovery+ subscription. In the US, it's on FloBikes. Check out our full how to watch guide for more.

Last year's podium

Last year’s podium

Men

1. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
2. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step
3. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Decuninck

Women

1. Lotte Claes (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
2. Aurela Nerlo (Pol) Winspace Orange Seal
3. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime

Riders to watch

Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) ****

The double-Olympic mountain bike champion has never finished higher than fifth at Omloop, but will be a well-marked rider given his ability to attack from the front. If he gets a clear run from the Muur, he will be hard to drag back.

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) *****

Somehow, Vollering has never won Omloop. Last year, she was the best of the rest as a surprise breakaway made it to the finish. She will surely be attempting to make up for missed opportunities. Expect her to try and attack from far out and solo away.

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) *****

The Dutch sprinter’s record is verging on outrageous. Wiebes essentially hasn’t lost a bunch sprint since 2024, and if it does come down to a large group in Ninove, betting against her would be like betting against it raining in the UK at the moment. Her SD Worx team will try and keep the race together.

Biniam Girmay (NSN Pro Cycling) ***

Four years on from his watershed Gent-Wevelgem victory, Girmay is back in winning form, and he always seemed suited to the tough racing of the Classics. In a new team, NSN will be all-in to back their Eritrean superstar. Expect Lewis Askey to do a lot of work for him.

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) ****

The Belgian is no longer world champion, but that will not make her any less marked. Free from targeting GC at stage races, Kopecky is free to do what she is best at, winning one-day races. Expect fireworks.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) *****

Making an appearance at Omloop for the first time is one of the best Classics riders of all time, Mathieu van der Poel. He is yet to race this season, but don't expect that to hold him back – he will be the hot favourite.

Startlist

Men's

*denotes unconfirmed team

Alpecin-Premier Tech
Edward Planckaert
Florian Sénéchal
Jasper Philipsen
Kaden Groves
Lennert Belmans
Mathieu van der Poel
Tobias Bayer

Bahrain Victorious
Alec Segaert
Attila Valter
Kamil Gradek
Matej Mohorič
Pau Miquel
Robert Stannard
Vlad Van Mechelen

Burgos Burpellet BH
Alexandre Mayer
César Macias
Clément Alléno
Daniel Cavia
Georgios Bouglas
Josh Burnett
Vojtěch Kmínek

Cofidis
Alex Kirsch
Alexis Renard
Dylan Teuns
Hugo Page
Jenthe Biermans
Piet Allegaert
Stanisław Aniołkowski

Decathlon CMA CGM
Oliver Naesen
Oscar Chamberlain
Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen
Sander De Pestel
Stan Dewulf
Stefan Bissegger
Tobias Lund Andresen

EF Education-EasyPost
Colby Simmons
Kasper Asgreen
Luke Lamperti
Marijn van den Berg
Mikkel Frølich Honoré
Noah Hobbs
Vincenzo Albanese

Flanders Baloise
Dylan Vandenstorme
Michiel Lambrecht
Milan Lanhove
Siebe Deweirdt
Victor Vercouillie
Vincent Van Hemelen
Ward Vanhoof

Groupama-FDJ United*
Axel Huens
Bastien Tronchon
Clément Russo
Cyril Barthe
Johan Jacobs
Thibaud Gruel
Valentin Madouas

Ineos Grenadiers
Artem Shmidt
Ben Swift
Ben Turner
Kim Heiduk
Magnus Sheffield
Michał Kwiatkowski
Samuel Watson

Jayco Alula
Amaury Capiot
Anders Foldager
Dries De Bondt
Dries De Pooter
Jelte Krijnsen
Kelland O'Brien
Robert Donaldson

Lidl-Trek
Albert Withen Philipsen
Edward Theuns
Mathias Vacek
Otto Vergaerde
Søren Kragh Andersen
Tim Torn Teutenberg
Toms Skujiņš

Lotto Intermarché
Arnaud De Lie
Cédric Beullens
Jenno Berckmoes
Luca Van Boven
Roel van Sintmaartensdijk
Sébastien Grignard
Vito Braet

Movistar
Carlos Canal
Filip Maciejuk
Iván García Cortina
Jon Barrenetxea
Manlio Moro
Orluis Aular
Roger Adrià

NSN Cycling
Biniam Girmay
Guillaume Boivin
Lewis Askey
Matis Louvel
Riley Sheehan
Ryan Mullen
Tom Van Asbroeck

Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling*
Aimé De Gendt
Brent Van Moer
Fred Wright
Frederik Frison
Kamil Małecki
Tom Pidcock
Xandro Meurisse

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
Arne Marit
Gianni Vermeersch
Jarrad Drizners
Jordi Meeus
Laurence Pithie
Mick van Dijke
Tim van Dijke

Soudal Quick-Step
Casper Pedersen
Dries van Gestel
Dylan van Baarle
Jasper Stuyven
Paul Magnier
Pepijn Reinderink
Yves Lampaert

Picnic PostNL
Frank van den Broek
Henri-François Renard-Haquin
John Degenkolb
Julius van den Berg
Sean Flynn
Timo de Jong
Timo Roosen

Visma-Lease a Bike
Axel Zingle
Christophe Laporte
Edoardo Affini
Matthew Brennan
Per Strand Hagenes
Pietro Mattio
Timo Kielich

TotalEnergies
Alexys Brunel
Anthony Turgis
Baptiste Vadic
Samuel Leroux
Sandy Dujardin
Thomas Bonnet
Thomas Gachignard

Tudor Pro Cycling*
Aivaras Mikutis
Luca Mozzato
Marco Haller
Matteo Trentin
Petr Kelemen
Rick Pluimers
Stefan Küng

UAE Team Emirates-XRG
Florian Vermeersch
Juan Sebastián Molano
Julius Johansen
Nils Politt
Rui Oliveira
Rune Herregodts
Tim Wellens

Unibet Rose Rockets
Joren Bloem
Karsten Larsen Feldmann
Lukáš Kubiš
Martijn Rasenberg
Matyáš Kopecký
Niklas Larsen
Tomáš Kopecký

Uno-X Mobility*
Carl-Frederik Bévort
Erik Nordsæter Resell
Jonas Abrahamsen
Markus Hoelgaard
Rasmus Tiller
Søren Wærenskjold
Sven Erik Bystrøm

XDS Astana*
Aaron Gate
Alberto Bettiol
Alessandro Romele
Arjen Livyns
Davide Ballerini
Lev Gonov
Mike Teunissen

Women's

*denotes unconfirmed team

AG Insurance - Soudal Team
Alana Castrique
Gladys Verhulst-Wild
Ilse Pluimers
Letizia Borghesi
Marthe Goossens
Shari Bossuyt

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto
Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka
Anastasiya Kolesava
Chiara Consonni
Kasia Niewiadoma
Tiffany Cromwell
Zoe Bäckstedt

Citymesh Customm Pro Cycling Team*
Britt De Grave
Britt Knaven
Cleo Kiekens
Eline van Rooijen
Femke Van Goethem
Yonna van Dam

Cofidis
Kristýna Burlová
Malwina Mul
Marion Borras
Martina Alzini
Valentine Fortin
Victoire Berteau

EF Education-Oatly
Alexandra Volstad
Alexis Magner
Babette van der Wolf
Cédrine Kerbaol
Mirre Knaven
Nina Berton

FDJ United-SUEZ*
Demi Vollering
Elise Chabbey
Eva van Agt
Franziska Koch
Juliette Berthet
Vittoria Guazzini

Fenix-Premier Tech
Christina Schweinberger
Evy Kuijpers
Flora Perkins
Lotte Claes
Marthe Truyen
Millie Couzens

Human Powered Health
Daria Pikulik
Kathrin Schweinberger
Lily Williams
Maggie Coles-Lyster
Marta Jaskulska
Thalita de Jong

Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi
Arianna Fidanza
Idoia Eraso
Irati Aranguren
Marjolein van 't Geloof
Naia Amondarain
Sara Fiorin

Lidl-Trek
Anna Henderson
Elisa Balsamo
Fleur Moors
Loes Adegeest
Margot Vanpachtenbeke
Shirin van Anrooij

Liv AlUla Jayco
Caroline Andersson
Jeanne Korevaar
Letizia Paternoster
Noa Jansen
Quinty Ton
Ruby Roseman-Gannon

Lotto Intermarché Ladies
Anna van Wersch
Katrijn De Clercq
Lani Wittervrongel
Lea Lin Teutenberg
Linda Riedmann
Marieke Meert

Ma Petite Entreprise*
Alison Avoine
Clémence Latimier
Ilona Rouat
Margot Marasco
Noémie Abgrall

Mayenne Monbana My Pie*
Allison Mrugal
Constance Valentin
Fiona Mangan
Justine Gegu
Kiara Lylyk
Natalie Quinn

Minimax Cycling Team*
Camilla Rånes Bye
Clara Lundmark
Émilie Fortin
Gwen Nothum
Katja Verkerk
Ursula Linden

Movistar
Arlenis Sierra
Aude Biannic
Carys Lloyd
Cat Ferguson
Liane Lippert
Sheyla Gutiérrez

Picnic PostNL
Audrey De Keersmaeker
Daniela Hezinová
Josie Nelson
Lucie Fityus
Mara Roldan
Mia Griffin

SD Worx-Protime
Anna van der Breggen
Elena Cecchini
Femke Markus
Lorena Wiebes
Lotte Kopecky
Mischa Bredewold

St Michel-Preference Home Auber93
Alicia Gonzalez
Alison Jackson
Caroline Wreszin
Clémence Chéreau
Elyne Roussel
India Grangier

UAE Team ADQ
Brodie Chapman
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini
Elynor Bäckstedt
Karlijn Swinkels
Lara Gillespie
Megan Jastrab

Uno-X Mobility*
Alessia Vigilia
Ingvild Gåskjenn
Laura Tomasi
Linda Zanetti
Susanne Andersen
Teuntje Beekhuis

Visma-Lease a Bike*
Daniek Hengeveld
Imogen Wolff
Katharina Sadnik
Nienke Veenhoven
Rosita Reijnhout

VolkerWessels Cycling*
Amber van der Hulst
Anne Knijnenburg
Esmée Peperkamp
Maud Rijnbeek
Quinty Schoens
Sophie von Berswordt

This weekend signified the end of the first round of early-season stage races, with Opening Weekend and the Classics arriving in just a few day's time. Last week we saw the UAE Tour, the Volta ao Algarve and the Vuelta a Andalucía/Ruta del Sol, featuring a variety of the protagonists we're expecting to see in this summer's men's Grand Tours.

It's too early to use these February races as a barometer for July or even May, but they're a handy indicator as to who's wintered well and who has a little further to go, and more. We take a look.

Isaac Del Toro 2-1 Remco Evenpoel

Perhaps the most impressive overall performance of the past week has come from young Mexican Isaac del Toro. The UAE Tour was the first race of the season for the 20-year-old UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and one which he began in the shadow of Belgian star Remco Evenepoel.

All eyes were on the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider, as one of the few big stars to openly declare Tadej Pogačar-beating intentions.

The first two stages saw the pair take one apiece, but on the stage three summit finish to Jebel Mobrah, Evenepoel began to fade, losing two minutes and his GC lead to winner Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and declaring afterwards: "I don't know what happened." Del Toro, however stayed strong and close to the race lead.

After two days of GC stalemate the Mexican added another stage and took the GC lead at Jebel Hafeet summit finish, while Evenepoel continued to languish among the also-rans, ultimately finishing 10th on GC.

The final report: a 'could do better' for Evenepoel; a gold star for Del Toro.

Tom Pidcock opens his account

With a win in the final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía, Tom Pidcock's tally for the year is off and running.

After a particularly successful round of results in last season's early stage races, the 26-year-old will be relieved to have been able to notch up a result here again.

“I think it’s great to get the pressure off and get the hands in the air early in the season in the first block of races," he said afterwards. "That’s definitely what we were working towards.”

It doesn't quite live up to last year's four wins in early stage races, but that's not the point. While he was second in Strade Bianche last year, Pidcock went the whole season without a WorldTour win while he settled into his new Q36.5 team, and he will be looking to correct that this year.

Juan Ayuso breaks the ice

Over at the Volta ao Algarve, Juan Ayuso was opening his account too, which will have gone down well with his new Lidl-Trek, who prised him from UAE Team Emirates-XRG last year mid-contract. Like Pidcock, Ayuso won the final stage, but the Spaniard enjoyed the added bonus of that victory also netting him the overall.

Like most of his rivals at the Volta al Algarve, who included old team-mate Joāo Almeida, Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers) and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Ayuso is focused on the summer Grand Tours (the Tour de France in the Spaniard's case). But this first ever win at Lidl-Trek is a great icebreaker and will alleviate some of the pressure going forward to the bigger race.

Away from the politics, Ineos Grenadiers looking positive

Politics and rash outbursts by their owner Jim Ratcliffe aside, Ineos Grenadiers are enjoying a start to the season that belongs right up there with some of their best years.

A time trial victory by an impressive-looking Filippo Ganna at the Volta ao Algarve brought the team's win tally to seven so far this year, all taken by a healthy variety of riders, including 20-year-old AJ August at the Vuelta Valenciana and new Aussie signing Sam Welsford in the Tour Down Under.

Add to that new signing Oscar Onley's second-place right behind Ayuso on the final stage at Algarve, and you have a team that is looking in great shape for the months to come – and potentially able once again to challenge for the podium at the Tour de France.

Paul Seixas seizes the day

The name Paul Seixas will be familiar to many already, despite his mere 19 years and the fact that until last week he was yet to win a professional race. As the winner of last year's Tour de l'Avenir though, the Decathlon CMA CGM rider already had plenty to show off.

His win on the cat-one climb to Foia at the Volta ao Algarve though, where he outsprinted Ayuso no less, was a watershed career moment for the Frenchman though, and he went on to finish an impressive second on the GC and take the youth classification. It was, said Seixas, "an almost perfect start to the season". These are results that bode well for Seixas's upcoming assault on hilly Classics, including Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

It took just seven race days for Tom Pidcock to open his 2026 victory account, as he won the final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía on Sunday.

The 26-year-old, now in his second season with Pinarello Q36.5, attacked on a short, category-three climb inside 6km to go on stage five. The move initially drew Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), who Pidcock then dropped with a second kick, before descending solo to the finish line in Lucena.

The race was won overall by Movistar’s Iván Romeo. Pidcock’s victory helped him rise from sixth to third in the general classification, meaning he has now finished on the podium in all three events he has competed in this year.

On his stage win, Pidcock said afterwards: “I think it’s great to get the pressure off and get the hands in the air early in the season in the first block of races. That’s definitely what we were working towards.”

Pidcock opened his season at the two-day Vuelta a la Región de Murcia last week, only racing one stage before the race was cancelled due to high winds. He then placed second to UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Tim Wellens at the Clásica Jaén, a one-day race with gravel sectors.

“The shape was great in Murcia and Jaén, but the weather, and also UAE, got the better of us in those races,” he said.

“The frustration was coming out a little bit [at the Vuelta a Andalucía] after we lost the GC basically on stage two. Even though the legs are so good, it’s not easy always to show it. I think also the parcours was not actually as hard as perhaps we thought. We didn’t look into it well enough, which is an oversight on our part.”

The Olympic mountain bike champion began the year in Chile, where he and six other Pinarello Q36.5 riders travelled for a pre-season altitude camp.

“We’ve trained super hard this winter. We made a big commitment as well as a team, both financially and taking a, not a risk, but trying something new to go to Chile and train there,” he said.

“It’s always difficult when you come from training so hard to get into the racing and be able to put it all on the line. But it’s great for us as a team that we can get a victory under our belt already.”

Pidcock is next expected to compete at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on 28 February, before returning to Strade Bianche on 7 March. He finished runner-up to Tadej Pogačar in the Italian Classic last spring.

This weekend's racing was decimated by the weather, with a stage of the Setmana Valenciana stage race cancelled and the two-day Vuelta a la Región de Murcia reduced to a quarter of that.

Extreme weather protocols were put in place in both races in the face of high-speed wind conditions that saw riders blown off the road and made continuing too hazardous.

The races were run off in the neighbouring regions of eastern Spain, where weather warnings and forecasts of 80kph (50mph) wind speeds had been issued, meaning some sort of disruption was always on the cards.

However, the organisers of the Vuelta Murcia in particular probably did not bank on their race being decimated in the way it was. On stage one after less than 10km of racing it became obvious that conditions were simply not safe to continue, and thus the riders were relocated in buses to Fortuna, further along the planned route, where the race restarted. This left just 83km – around half of the original planned 178.5km of the race.

This didn't stop riders taking what remained by the scruff of the neck though, with a break quickly forming and a strong Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) attacking with, and then dropping, team-mate Julius Johansen, and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) attacking from the chase group to take third.

These GC standings remained exactly as they were at the end of the following (and final) stage, which was neutralised after just 10km of racing and no GC given.

The women's Setmana Ciclista Volta Feminina de la Communitat Valenciana was less badly hit, with Saturday's third stage of four cancelled altogether but the only stage affected. The three remaining stages provided enough substance for double stage and overall winner Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) to demonstrate her early season form, while Cat Ferguson (Movistar, winner of stage two and seventh on stage four) and Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ, 2nd on GC and stage one and 3rd stage four) also showed well.

Right on cue, the weather in eastern Spain has returned this week to something resembling normality – warm with a breeze that will slowly die down over the next few days.

However, with a greater focus on rider safety and extreme weather protocols forming a significant part of that – along with climate change effects that seem to be making themselves heard ever louder – this weekend is unlikely to be the last time we see races shortened and cancelled this season. Stage one of the men's UAE Tour, on Monday, was also shortened due to the wind.

After a tumultuous relationship with the Tour de France, Tom Pidcock has said he “wasn’t exactly excited” to hear his team, Pinarello-Q36.5, will be at the race this year, but he will go with the aim of enjoying himself.

The 26-year-old won a stage on Alpe d’Huez on his Tour debut in 2022, but turned to target the general classification with Ineos Grenadiers in the subsequent two years, which he “didn’t really enjoy”, he said at the end of 2024.

Now, in an interview with The Observer, Pidcock made clear he needs to “refind that excitement for the Tour”.

“There’s such high pressure and expectations from external people, but also internally, from teams. In our team, I think it will be different,” he said.

“My main goal is to go there and have fun and enjoy it and I think that will bring success. Obviously, we’re going to have to train our balls off.”

Last season, his first season with Q36.5, the Brit put in a career-best Grand Tour performance when he finished third at the Vuelta a España. His best result at the Tour came in 2023, when he finished 13th.

“When you’re competing just to stay in the top 10, I struggle to find the motivation to do that and have to ­battle [with] that for three weeks. It’s just draining,” he told The Observer.

“I think if we can go and enjoy the stress of the Tour, then that will help change my mindset back to how it should be.

“[The Tour] is the biggest race in the world. It’s the race that inspired me when I was young. It’s inspiring probably millions of other kids, but to race, it’s not the most enjoyable. Hopefully we can change that.”

Pidcock missed the Tour last season due to the fact Q36.5 did not receive an invite. The team qualified their place for the 2026 edition as one of the top-two-ranked ProTeams, a status that gives them automatic invites to all three Grand Tours.

“I think it’s a massive opportunity,” Pidcock said in a team press release last month. “I’ve had ups and downs in the Tour de France the last years, so it’s nice now, with this new team, to earn our own place there. It’s the biggest stage we have to race on. With that comes so much baggage but I think in this team they help me carry it all."

The Olympic mountain bike champion opens his road season on Friday at the two-stage Vuelta a la Región de Murcia. He will then race a full Classics campaign, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before heading to Barcelona for the start of the Tour on 4 July.

Tom Pidcock has called the Tour de France a "massive opportunity" and an "honour" for Pinarello-Q36.5, after the ProTeam were announced as one of the 23 squads taking part in the Grand Tour this summer.

The 26-year-old will return to the Tour this summer after not racing it in 2025 after his move to Q36.5, a second-division team, from WorldTour outfit Ineos Grenadiers. However, the Swiss squad took enough points, mostly through Pidcock, to mean that they are automatically invited to all WorldTour events in 2026, including the Tour.

As a result, he will be – barring misfortune – on the start line in Barcelona in July, back at the race which brought him one of the peaks of his career, his win on Alpe d'Huez at the 2022 race. The Tour returns to the iconic mountain for two stages this year.

"The Tour de France is the biggest race in the world, the biggest bike race in the world," Pidcock said in a team statement. "So yeah, to be able to go there and to try and perform the best you can is an honour. So I think that’s an exciting task for us as a team, to be there in the best shape possible. I think it’s really special that we’re going to the Tour de France this year.

"We have earned our place, the team, through our performances last year, that’s given us the right to go there and no one can take that away from us. So I think it’s a massive opportunity. I’ve had ups and downs in the Tour de France the last years, so it’s nice now, with this new team, to earn our own place there. It’s the biggest stage we have to race on. With that comes so much baggage but I think in this team they help me carry it all."

It will be Pidcock's fourth Tour; as well as his stage win in 2022, he has spent time in the white jersey and the top 10 overall. On his last appearance, in 2024, he finished second on the gravel stage to Troyes, but also hit the headlines as Ineos' then director of racing Steve Cummings was kept away from the race. Since moving to Q36.5, Pidcock has won five times, and finished third overall at the Vuelta a España last summer.

"I think personally, my biggest objective is to go there, enjoy the suffering, enjoy the intensity of the race, the media with the racing," he said. "I think if we can enjoy it and enjoy the suffering as a team, then the results will come from that. I think we’re a team that’s growing, so to have the opportunity to go and race the Tour is just one step along the way. Of course, where we want to go is to be at the Tour de France every year, racing every year for wins. So yeah, it’s another step on the ladder of where we want to get to, I guess."

Pidcock's season will begin next week at the Vuelta a Murcia before he targets the Classics. Last month, he travelled to Chile for some altitude training in a less popular location.

Currently training in Chile with his Pinarello-Q36.5 team, Tom Pidcock has been turning in some impressive rides over the past two weeks, although none more so than yesterday's 200.2km epic.

Joined by new team-mate Fred Wright, as well as Fabio Christen, Xandro Meurisse and Quinten Hermans, the Yorkshire rider rode west out of the mountains to the plains north of capital Santiago, before turning back for a return journey that comprised more than 80km of almost unbroken climbing to their hotel at 2,750m of altitude.

By the time they had got back, the riders had amassed Queen-stage levels of vertical ascent – 4,003m – and seven hours in the saddle, all at 28.5kph (17.4mph).

Pidcock gave little away beyond the bare stats, leaving the name as Strava's default 'Morning Ride' and opting not to post any comments. He did, however, rack up several top-10 awards and a few PRs too. Five of the latter were bagged on the final couple of hikes to the hotel, suggesting that he was, at least, trying pretty hard at this point.

Pidcock begins his season with a trio of smaller Spanish races in mid-February, including the hilly, five-day Ruta del Sol in Spain. Chile, it seems, is likely to have prepared him well.

His team has been talking in the Belgian press about the 25-day camp, noting the unique attractions of this unusual and far-flung training destination; while it is ostensibly an altitude camp, it could also be deemed an acclimatisation camp for the searing heat – 36°C in the valley where they do their intervals, according to Pidcock's team-mate Meurisse.

"When you're sheltered from the wind on the bike, it feels like an oven," the Belgian told Het Laatse Nieuws. "Sweating is the order of the day." Added to that is a UV Index of 14, meaning the riders have to reapply SPF50 several times a day in order to avoid being sunburned.

Despite the discomfort and the inconvenience the high temperatures bring, the advantages of training in Chile as opposed to the more traditional Mount Teide in Tenerife where it's 10 degrees cooler, or Spain's Sierra Nevada where there is still snow around, is not lost on the team.

"These days, every professional cyclist does heat training as an extra stimulus to expose their body to extreme conditions," team rider Hermans pointed out to HLN. "They cycle indoors in warm clothing on rollers or go to the sauna, but here you simply do those heat sessions outside on the bike in shorts and sleeves."

Tom Pidcock is to begins his season in Spain at the Vuelta a Murcia next month, as part of a 12-race spring programme.

The 26-year-old, in his second season at Pinarello Q36.5, is to take part in three races in Spain in February before Omloop Nieuwsblad on Opening Weekend.

He will then switch to Italy for Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo before riding the Volta a Catalunya in March. His spring will conclude with the hilly Classics, ending at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the "primary objective".

Pinarello Q36.5 are eligible for invites to all WorldTour races this year, mainly thanks to points earned by Pidcock in 2025, and so do not have to wait to be given wildcard invites by race organisers. It is expected that the team, and Pidcock, will line up at the Tour de France in July, but this is yet to be confirmed. He finished third at the Vuelta a España last year, his best ever Grand Tour result.

"My schedule stays quite similar to previous years," Pidcock said in a press release. "But adding in some new races to keep things fresh. But also to give time to training blocks and periodisation to make sure I am ready for the races that matter most."

Last year, Pidcock rode the AlUla Tour and the Ruta del Sol ahead of Omloop, and then rode Tirreno-Adriatico between Strade and San Remo.

In 2026, the Yorkshireman will ride Murcia, which becomes a two-stage race for the first time since 2020, before the one-day race Clásica Jaén. Jaén, a similar race to Strade with gravel sectors, is only in its fifth year, but has boasted Tadej Pogačar and Michał Kwiatkowski as winners in the past; Pidcock has never raced it.

The Pinarello Q36.5 rider will then taken on the Ruta del Dol for the second year in a row. He won stage two there last year, and finished third overall. February concludes at Omloop, where Pidcock's best result is fifth in five attempts.

March begins at Strade Bianche, where Pidcock won in 2023 and finished second behind Pogačar last year, before Milan-Turin and then Milan-San Remo. It will be a debut at the former, and the fifth time at the latter, where he has a best result of 11th.

It is then back to stage racing at the Volta a Catalunya, which Pidcock hasn't raced before, where he will face Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida, the two main contenders for the Giro d'Italia.

However, it is not more stage racing for Pidcock next, but hilly one-day Classics. His schedule sees him head to Brabantse Pijl, where he won in 2021, and then the Amstel Gold Race, where he won in 2024. He will then tackle La Flèche Wallone, where he finished third last year, before Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race he has finished second in before.

Tom Pidcock's spring schedule

13-14 February: Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia
16 February: Clásica Jaén
18-22 February: Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol
28 February: Omloop Nieuwsblad
7 March: Strade Bianche
18 March: Milan-Turin
21 March: Milan-San Remo
23-29 March: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
17 April: Brabantse Pijl
19 April: Amstel Gold Race
22 April: La Flèche Wallonne
26 April: Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Forget Tenerife and Mallorca, Tom Pidcock and his Pinarello-Q36.5 teammates are heading to South America for their pre-season altitude training camp this year.

Seven of the team’s riders, including Brits Pidcock, Fred Wright and Tom Gloag, will travel to Chile at the end of this week ahead of the 2026 road campaign.

In an interview with Belgian outlet Sporza, Pinarello-Q36.5 sports director Kurt Bogaerts explained the country was a “well-considered choice” by the team.

“It all has to do with the climate,” Bogaerts, Pidcock’s long-term coach, said. “The weather is beautiful there and it's a new environment."

January is typically sunny and dry in the mountains of northern Chile, where the team will be based for nearly a month, with temperatures between 20-30°C.

Teams tend to visit European locations for their pre-season camps; Spain and the Canary Islands are popular choices.

Asked why Pinarello-Q36.5 have opted to go further afield, Bogaerts said: "In the Sierra Nevada [southern Spain], for example, there was a huge amount of snow this winter. You have to drive down to the valley every day, and that's not exactly fun either."

He added that Tenerife was also ruled out because “most riders have already seen Mount Teide from the inside and out. You have to cycle up that same climb every time, which makes it mentally tough."

Alongside Pidcock, Gloag and Wright, three Belgian riders will be part of the trip to Chile – Brent Van Moer, Xandro Meurisse and Quinten Hermans – as well as Swiss rider Fabio Christen.

"Tom [Pidcock] was the first to raise his hand. He even pushed me even harder to get it done,” Bogaerts told Sporza.

According to the sports director, the Olympic mountain bike champion has also asked to bring off-road tyres so he can stray from the tarmac.

“We've been working on performance at a high level all season long. But sometimes we forget that it also has to be fun. That's why I'm happy to hear that the riders are looking forward to that altitude training camp,” Bogaerts said.

As one of the top-ranked UCI ProTeams, Pinarello-Q36.5 are expected to gain automatic invitations to all three Grand Tours this season, including the Tour de France, and all other WorldTour events. Last year, the team earned its highest ever Grand Tour result thanks to Pidcock’s third place at the Vuelta a España.

Pinarello-Q36.5 are owned by South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg, who holds significant investments in the brands Pinarello and Q36.5.

When pro-Palestine protestors forced the early abandonment of the Vuelta a España’s final stage in September – the fourth stage of the race to be curtailed – it triggered a chain reaction. In the weeks that followed, Israel-Premier Tech, the focus of the protests, backtracked on earlier assurances and announced a new name and nationality, accepting that their future in the sport was untenable without change. The immediate consequence, however, was the cancellation of the podium ceremony for the GC top-three and the jersey winners.

Race victor Jonas Vingegaard was understandably peeved. “Yeah, it’s shit to end it like this,” he muttered inside a Visma-Lease a Bike car, in footage later shown in the team’s post-race documentary. It seemed as though everyone would simply drift away – an anticlimactic conclusion to 21 tense, turbulent days.

That was until Tom Pidcock’s mum, Sonja, stepped in with other ideas, laying the groundwork for what became the most spontaneous and intimate Grand Tour celebration in history – or, as social media later declared it, the best podium ceremony of all time.

Sonja and her husband Giles were in Madrid ready to celebrate their son’s third-placed finish in the race. When it became apparent that that wouldn’t be happening as planned, Sonja spoke with Q36.5’s billionaire owner Ivan Glasenberg at the team’s hotel. “I said to Ivan, ‘This isn’t fair – these young men have put all this effort in and have been robbed of their glory’,” Sonja, who organises the Otley Cycle Races, recounts to Cycling Weekly. “I told him we should organise a podium.”

Glasenberg nodded along, but wasn’t following what Sonja was suggesting. “Ivan said that they were all going to dinner that night and that everyone was invited including us. I said to him again, ‘But, Ivan, let’s invite all the teams and make a podium together’. Then he got it and said, ‘That’s a great idea!’ I said to him, ‘I’ll organise it for you, but I don’t have a good contact list except [photographer] Russ Ellis’s phone number’.”

The Q36.5 boss now fully on board with Sonja’s plans, he rang Visma’s manager Richard Plugge, who was immediately enthusiastic. Within minutes, Plugge had set up a WhatsApp group comprising all the relevant teams, and convened a hotel car park meeting with his team’s staff who took on responsibility as ceremony organisers. “If it works, it’s a good conclusion for everyone, and a picture for history,” Plugge said, as recorded in the aforementioned documentary. “And if not, then we tried.”

While Plugge was busy organising the guest list, Visma’s chief business officer Jasper Saeijs was put in charge of logistics. “I said, if we do this, we have to do it right,” Saeijs recalls to Cycling Weekly. “We were never going to have the same quality as the real celebration, but everyone who had made the Vuelta special deserved some kind of celebration.” The first thing he had to do was to tell a downcast Vingegaard that he would get the chance to celebrate. “Jonas was already in his normal clothes, and I told him he had to change into his cycling clothing and prepare for a ceremony.”

Phone calls were made to the race organisers, who confirmed that someone was on their way with the trophies, jerseys and podium backdrop – and were promptly snarled up in congestion in the centre of Madrid. “They didn’t know if they’d be able to make it past the protesters and get to us in time,” Saeijs says. Pidcock’s mum came up with a contingency plan. “If the Vuelta organisers couldn’t make it, I suggested we go to the hotel kitchen and make trophies out of tinfoil!”

Thankfully the podium essentials arrived and Saeijs and his team then set about creating the scene. “We needed the backdrop in place, so we attached it to a rental minivan,” Saeijs says. Only one problem: it wasn’t tall enough. “We needed it to be higher, so I asked one of the mechanics what he thought. We were brainstorming a few ideas and then he said, ‘We have some poles that we can put on top of the car.” According to Sonja, these were in fact traffic cones. “They attached the backdrop to traffic cones on top of a van,” she laughs. “It was a bit wonky, but they straightened it out and in the end it looked amazing.”

As for the podium steps, Visma coolboxes of varying heights took on a new function. “We wrote one, two and three on them using a black Sharpie pen,” recounts Saeijs. Those scribbled letters later became the most-talked about aspect of the ceremony on social media.

With the stage set but darkness descending, attention focused on lighting the rushed-together spectacle. “We parked three of our team cars in front of the podium with their headlights on, but too many people were in the way, so we couldn’t see the podium,” Saeijs says.

Sonja, watching on in admiration as her idea took shape in an hour, policed the crowd, which was swelling with riders and staff from other teams. “I put my bossy race organiser head on and was saying to people, ‘Excuse me, stand over there!’” Relief arrived in the form of TV Denmark, whose crew – glued to Vingegaard throughout the race – offered something far better than car headlights. “They follow Jonas everywhere, and they let us use their stage lights,” Saeijs says.

But the atmosphere still needed one final ingredient. “You need music to lighten up any party,” Saeijs insists. Enter Thijs Roelen, Visma press officer turned impromptu DJ. “He decided on Eye of the Tiger for the entrance of the riders,” Saeijs confirms.

There was also the small matter of playing the right anthem for Vingegaard, although even that proved surprisingly complicated. “Denmark has two types of national anthems, and in the morning the race organisers had asked us to help them in choosing the right anthem to play,” Saeijs says. “Thankfully we had researched it before so we already knew which one was the correct one and we downloaded it.”

Everything set, the moment then came for the car park ceremony to begin. Visma sourced some champagne and spectators handed round beer and pizza – but then, yet another delay. “UAE won the team prize but they were apparently reluctant to join in at first,” Sonja says.

“When they found that Mads Pedersen [green jersey] and Matthew Riccitello [white jersey] were coming, they realised they couldn’t turn it down. They still turned up 30 minutes late, mind you.” When UAE finally arrived – their star rider João Almeida had finished second on GC – the party finally got underway.

“Also funny was that the race organiser who’d brought the backdrop, jerseys and trophies didn’t know the protocol of the ceremony, so we had to be creative with how we did it,” Saeijs remembers. “We said that the GC would go first, then the team prize, and then the jerseys. It was really improvised, and in five minutes we’d decided on the order.” Master of ceremonies was selected almost at random, Sonja remembers: “He was a guy who wasn't used to commentating, and he was naming all the riders quietly without any microphone.”

The moment was captured on smartphones by the hundred or so people gathered, a uniquely improvised celebration pulled together at speed and destined to linger in the memory of everyone who witnessed it. At one point, Sonja noticed Vingegaard looking straight at her. “I’d never met Jonas before, but when he got off the Visma bus in his kit, he was looking across the car park smiling at me. I pointed him out to Giles, and I realised that Jonas was probably the only mum-minded person there. Richard must have told him that it was Tom’s mum’s idea and he was saying thank you to me. It was really lovely, really sweet.”

Balanced on an upturned coolbox, Vingegaard beamed with amused delight. “At first I was disappointed not to get the celebration in Madrid, but fortunately we could make our own celebration and it was a really nice moment, really special,” he said in his team’s documentary. “It shows how, in cycling, even though we’re competitors, we can still get everyone together and celebrate in a nice way.”

The Vuelta’s organisers hope the whole episode remains a one-off, with a return next year to a full-scale finale of spotlights and fireworks in front of thousands of fans. If not, Sonja Pidcock stands ready to help again. “I’d like to do it again for my own benefit but I’m not sure it’ll wash,” she laughs.

“All I wanted to do was to applaud and give my son a hug, but in the end everyone created a fabulous moment. If it was in Madrid, it would have been immense, but they would have celebrated in front of thousands of strangers, and we wouldn’t have got a look-in. As it happened, the riders got to celebrate with the people most important to them, and you could tell by the smiles on their faces that they were so delighted.”

This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 18 December 2025. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.

Tom Pidcock will have a British GC teammate with the same first name at Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling next season – and the new Tom is determined to follow in Pidcock’s wheel tracks and turn flashes of brilliance into consistent brilliance.

For the past three years Thomas Gloag has been riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, and the Londonder made an immediate impression with sixth place on GC in his debut race, the 2023 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. He then went on to ride and complete the Giro d’Italia as an eleventh hour call-up

A training ride crash in August 2023, however, shattered his right kneecap, and he didn’t return to competition until 11 months later. When he did, he won a stage of the Czech Tour just three days into his return, but then a fractured elbow derailed him once again. 2025 passed by with 58 race days but only a modicum of success.

It was decided that a change of environment was needed to further the 24-year-old’s career. “I had a fantastic time at Visma and there were some conversations [about staying] but they were quite clear on what they could offer me,” Gloag told Cycling Weekly.

“They have so many fantastic riders, and I think jumping across to Q36.5, a growing team that should race all three Grand Tours next year, was a better option for me.”

Gloag will not only team up once again with Pidcock who he raced with for Trinity Racing in 2020, but also with fellow VC Londres graduate Fred Wright, and his former coach Kurt Bogaerts who is now the Swiss team’s head of performance.

“Kurt stuck his neck out for me and that meant a lot,” Gloag revealed. “He and the people around him are really smart and it ended up being an easy decision.”

Reflecting on his time with Visma, Gloag said: “The best description for it is up and down. The crash that took me out for a year wasn’t ideal, but it was the best place in the world to learn the ropes because at Visma you get a masterclass in how to be a pro cyclist.

“There’s so much emphasis on the latest cutting edge thing, but the reality is the sexy stuff that is exciting to read about doesn’t contribute to a significantly better performance. The basics are 95% of the sport.

“Visma are really good at the not so sexy stuff, and it’s been the best place to learn those characteristics and traits that have become habits and will hopefully set me up for a long time in the pro peloton.”

Gloag was typically honest when analysing how he can improve in the coming years. “This last season and in 2023, I started quite strongly and finished well, but between March and September I wasn’t as competitive,” he said.

“To be off that top level for six months is a long time, and I want to be at that top level throughout the year, not just in a few small windows.

“I have to be honest and say I’ve always struggled with volume. When I went to an altitude camp with Visma in 2023, I was by far and away the worst rider. That’s probably because I’m not as trained as my age suggests – when I was a second year junior I only averaged 10 hours a week because I was more focused on school.

“My ability to handle volume has never been very good, and it’s always been my Achilles’ heel. Hopefully riding for over 900 hours this year will have boosted my physical base.”

Largely because of Pidcock’s success in 2025 that included a podium finish at the Vuelta a España, Q36.5 have secured guaranteed wildcard entries to all WorldTour events next season, including all the Grand Tours.

“I’d love to go back to a Grand Tour and it would be great to ride one at a decent level, but I’m not bothered whether it’s the Giro or a Crystal Palace crit, the main thing I want to do is ride my bike fast more consistently and be at the front of races,” Gloag said. “The goal is clear: to be at the back less and at the front more.”

The town of Maastricht was the epicentre for all things gravel this weekend, as riders of all age categories and nationalities descended on the southernmost city in the Netherlands for the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships. With a route comprising a mix of tarmac, steep climbs, gravel bike path, and forest trails, the tech on offer was naturally going to be diverse and experimental, and we saw some intriguing setups across both the pro men's and women's fields.

As expected, aerodynamics played a massive role in this year's addition, and owing to the non-technical terrain on offer, riders played around with tyre width and tread patterns in an effort to save as much weight and watts as possible.

Let's take a look at the bikes and trends that dominated the weekend's racing.

Florian Vermeersch's Colnago G4-X PIGR

After finishing runner-up in the past two editions of the UCI Gravel World Championships, Belgian Florian Vermeersch finally secured his rainbow bands in a hard-fought day in the breakaway.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had access to a Colnago G4-X gravel bike, adorned in a stunning off-the-shelf 'PIGR' metallic-green paint job. The components were all team issue and cannot be specified on the Colnago website. This includes the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, pictured here in 54/40T, 11-34T configuration with 170mm cranks - the gearing of which afforded the 81kg Vermeersch enough of a bailout for some of the steeper pitches.

The handlebars and rolling stock were handled by Enve, including the 4.5 SES wheels wrapped in 40mm Continental Terra Speed TR tan wall tyres. The build is finished off with a Fizik Argo Adaptive R1 saddle.

Tom Pidcock's Pinarello Dogma F GR

Florian Vermeersch might have secured the rainbow bands, but it was Tom Pidcock's Pinarello Dogma F GR that stole the show. While some of our readers will rightfully question why Tom was on a Pinarello instead of a team-issue Scott Addict gravel bike, it's due to an ongoing three-year deal he has with the Italian bike brand. (The primary financial backer and holding company owner behind Q36.5, Ivan Glasenberg, also happens to own a controlling interest in Pinarello, which could see the team switch bikes in the coming seasons). Anyway, back to Tom's Pinarello Dogma F GR...

While we didn't notice any hidden tech bits on his Dogma F GR, we were drawn to the bike's incredible use of colour and contrast. The striking red and gold paintwork stood out amid the muted and earthy colours dominating the peloton, as did the unique full tan tyres. These unreleased Vittoria Terreno T30 35mm tyres are made entirely from 92% recycled materials and feature a completely new construction, while retaining the Terreno's trademark fast-rolling centre tread and knobbed shoulder line. Why so narrow? Well, not only does Pidcock possess one of the best skillsets in the peloton, the route wasn't very technical and, as an aero-focussed bike, only has tyre clearance provision for 45mm front/42mm rear. The anodised-green Vittoria Multiway valves also suggest Pidcock was using AirLiner inserts.

The balance of his build comprised an SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset outfitted with the 10-46T cassette and a single 50T chainring. A Wolf Tooth chain guide was fitted to prevent chain drops. Like most of the field, he opted to use Shimano Dura-Ace road pedals as opposed to MTB/gravel-specific SPD-style options.

Marianne Vos' Cervelo Aspero-5

We love the modified Cervelo Aspero-5 Marianne Vos used on the weekend. It represents what got us all into racing in the first place and shows gravel racing is still in a state of experimentation - something we hope stays around for a while still.

Marianne's Aspero-5 caught our attention initially for what looked like a mismatched tyre sidewall. Closer inspection revealed something more intriguing: a gravel/road tyre mullet setup comprising a 45mm Vittoria Terrano T70 front tyre and 40mm Corsa Pro Control at the rear - another nod to the course's lack of technical terrain.

Another standout tech highlight, but something we've seen employed before by the Dutch rider, was the self-inflating/deflating Gravaa Kaps system hubs, laced to Reserve wheels. These special hubs allow the rider to adjust pressure on the fly, nullifying the effects of corrugated surfaces and reducing puncture risk entirely. Like Pidcock, Vos elected an SRAM Red XPLR AXS 1x setup, but paired a smaller 48T ring to the 10-46T cassette.

Lorena Wiebes' Specialized S-Works Crux

Lorena Wiebes held off a charging Marianne Vos to clinch elite women's race at the UCI Gravel World Championships, aboard a Specialized S-Works Crux. Perhaps the most straightforward setup in the field, Lorena's race bike was built for pure speed, and she admitted she's not the most tech-savvy rider in the gravel bunch, citing road racing tech as more of her forte.

Lorena's S-Works Crux is far from an off-the-shelf option, as it features a custom, silver camo-like pattern. The silver forms a reflective base, and then black is added on top, which is then moved around under cling film to achieve the desired effect. It looks superb and stands out among some of the more ordinary-looking bikes in the women's pro field.

One of the trends at this year's race was the propensity for narrower tyres, something which goes against the current grain of riders using rubber as wide as 2.1in. As a result, Weibes elected to wrap her Roval Terra CLX II in 40mm Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready tyres complete with 'transparent' tan wall.

Other than that, her bike was fairly standard, utilising Tacx Deva bottle cages, a Specialized S-Works Power saddle, the newly released Roval Alpinist Cockpit II bar arrangement, and SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset.

Matej Mohorič's Merida Silex prototype

Matej Mohorič is no stranger to starting UCI Gravel World Championships aboard unreleased Merida gravel bikes. The Slovenian won the 2023 edition using the second-generation Merida Silex, a week before it was unveiled to the press in Scandiano, Italy. In a similar move, Mohorič entered this year's race in the hope of repeating his heroics of two years ago on a prototype Merida Silex gravel bike.

The new bike was painted in a custom, multi-coloured design with green accents referencing his national jersey. From what we can see, the new Silex features a beefier headtube, fork, and downtube, while the seat-tube junction ditches the previously kinked angling for a new, smoothed-off profile.

Mohorič elected to use a complete, road groupset - in this case, a sponsor-specific 2x Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 chainset, likely in a 54/40T, 11-34T gearing configuration. Component supplier Vision provided the Metron integrated cockpit and what appears to be unmarked prototype gravel wheels.

In the wake of the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, focus now shifts to the UCI Gravel World Championships, where rainbow jerseys will be awarded this weekend.

The fourth edition of the event is scheduled to take place in Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands, with start lists packed full of road WorldTour talent.

As first revealed by Cycling Weekly in June, Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) will make his Gravel Worlds debut this year, and leads the men's elite start list in the absence of the reigning champion, Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), who has chosen to rest ahead of the cyclo-cross season.

There will still, however, be two previous winners in the men's race in Matej Mohorič (Slovenia) and Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium), as well as a raft of WorldTour riders, such as: Tim Merlier (Belgium), Tim Wellens (Belgium), Connor Swift (Great Britain) and Nils Politt (Germany).

Notable retired road pros listed on the men's start list include Romain Bardet (France), Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) and Zdeněk Štybar (Czech Republic).

In the women's elite race, last year's champion Marianne Vos (Netherlands) will defend her rainbow bands, against her predecessor Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland), who won in 2023.

The women's start list also packs a wealth of WorldTour road pros. Fresh from her 25th victory of the season, Lorena Wiebes will be part of a strong Dutch squad alongside Mischa Bredewold, Puck Pieterse, Pauliena Rooijakkers and Shirin van Anrooij.

Silvia Persico (Italy), Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (South Africa) and Tiffany Cromwell (Australia) are also all set to take part.

There is only one previous winner of gravel cycling's marquee event, Unbound Gravel 200, across both start lists: Rosa Klöser (Germany).

The UCI Gravel World Championships, set across shorter distances, tend not to attract the leading gravel pros, who instead focus on the Life Time Grand Prix series. "It's a question of logistics, money, and career sustainability," US rider Lauren de Crescenzo wrote in an article on Cyclingnews.

The championships begin on Saturday 11 October with the 131km women's elite race, scheduled to start at 11:00 CET.

The men's elite race is 180km, and will begin on Sunday 12 October at 11:45 CET.

Men's elite start list

Women's elite start list

Tom Pidcock was Britain’s big hope for the rainbow jersey on Sunday in the elite men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships, but eventually finished in 10th place, after what he described as the most unenjoyable race of his season.

Pidcock led a strong team into the 267.6km race around Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, and in the closing stages of the race found himself as part of a strong five man group pursuing a leading duo, including eventual winner, Tadej Pogačar. However, the Yorkshireman was unable to hold on, slipping out of that group, eventually fighting his way across the line some 9.05 down.

Pidcock was seen off the back of the bunch at the team car talking with Sports Director Matt Brammeier on the second lap of the 267.5km race, raising concerns that he might have been struggling. However, when the race headed out of Kigali for a single lap of a 48km loop including the day’s two hardest climbs, he was perfectly positioned.

Close to the top of Mont Kigali, Pogačar made his race winning move, initially taking two others with him, and Pidcock found himself as part of a large chasing peloton. That group was less than a minute behind the lead when they returned to the 15.1km city circuit for the final six of the 15 laps, but though he made his way into the five man group on the following lap, there was no way back for Pidcock.

“It was so hard,” he said in a post-race interview for TNT Sport. “To be honest I didn’t feel so good in the start and then I was coming round and into the race and I just completely blew. It was survival until the finish, it was absolutely brutal.

“At one point when it was the five of us away behind Tadej, at that point I thought ‘you know anything’s possible,’ but then the legs fell off. I think I was the best guy from coming from the Vuelta so you can’t have everything these days. I did my best like I said I would and that’s it.”

Pidcock arrived in Rwanda with clear ambitions for the podium, saying before the race, "We're here to do well. I wouldn't travel all the way to Africa if I didn't think that I could perform. We'll see. I mean, it's not like we're not here to race to win. That's evident. Worlds is always a day where anything could happen. We're not making too many expectations now.”

Pidcock has always been both exciting and competitive, but his move to the Q36.5 Pro Cycling team over the winter seems to have spurred him on, and 2025 has been something of a breakthrough for the 26-year-old. He won the early season Alula Tour, finished second at Strade Bianche then took a stage at the Arctic Tour of Norway. However, perhaps his greates success so far this year was his remarkable third place at the Vuelta a España earlier this month, proving his pedigree as a genuine GC contender.

Tom Pidcock is a man used to World Championships. This year's UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, is actually his 16th appearance at a Worlds, across road, cyclo-cross, and mountain bike, in different age groups. He knows how they go.

He's a multiple-time world champion, at elite in cyclo-cross and mountain bike, and in the junior time trial on the road. A medal at elite level in the Road World Championships has so far eluded him, however, which is very much the target for Sunday's road race.

"We're here to do well," the 26-year-old explained in a press conference on Friday. "I wouldn't travel all the way to Africa if I didn't think that I could perform. We'll see. I mean, it's not like we're not here to race to win. That's evident. Worlds is always a day where anything could happen. We're not making too many expectations now."

What Tom Pidcock is not used to is finishing third at a Grand Tour, something he did for the first time at the Vuelta a España earlier this month.

"I recovered pretty well to be honest," he said. "I think I'm actually too fresh, maybe. I've never finished a Grand Tour in such a good condition. A fairly new thing for me, it's a tricky balance to make sure I'm recovered but to make sure I'm also training as well.

"I took four or five days easy and then got back into training. I did seven hours last week one day, and just some intensity. The travel gets in the way a little bit, but I did some good training yesterday. People are talking about the altitude or smog, but it's quite tough here actually, tough conditions."

The Vuelta a España was the main thing on Pidcock's mind this summer, but it must be nice to be back to the chaos of a one-day race, the kind of event where the Brit, a winner of Strade Bianche and the Amstel Gold Race, and podium finisher at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, has thrived before.

"I haven't put much thought into this, I was just thinking about the Vuelta and not what's going to come after," he said. "I was pretty stressed when I got home cos I wasn't doing any organising and there was a million things to do. I didn't look much beyond it. It's nice to have a one day hit out."

Pidcock is also not used to riding in Rwanda or Africa more generally, something novel for most of the peloton in Kigali.

"I don't know what my expectations were, but I've come here and stayed in a nice hotel with a nice view," he said.

"Everywhere is super clean, there's less litter here than there is in Europe, all the people are super nice and friendly. It's really nice.

"I like going to places and getting new experiences racing my bike, so it's a nice experience."

This has already been a successful Road Worlds for GB, with golds for Zoe Bäckstedt in the U23 time trial and Harry Hudson in the junior road race.

"It's good, of course, when you have success as a team it always brings a positive atmosphere into it, and it normally reflects on other races," he said. "Hopefully, we can see the effects of that in the junior girls tomorrow and then our race."

Beyond Pidcock, all eyes are on Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia and Belgium's Remco Evenepoel. Pogačar is the defending champion, while Evenepoel was dominant in the elite time trial last weekend, catching Pogačar during his effort.

Asked where he thought Pogačar would attack from, after his 100km-long escapade last year, Pidcock wouldn't be drawn.

"I dunno, I'm not really bothered about wasting energy speculating on that," he said. "[After] what happened in the time trial he will want to prove something on Sunday."

Pidcock will not be alone either, with a strong GB team which includes Oscar Onley, fourth at this year's Tour de France.

"Oscar has also shown his strength this year," Pidcock explained. "It will be a hard, attritional race, it's nice to have someone like him in the team, someone I'm pretty sure will be solid on Sunday."

A first African Worlds elite men's road race beckons, with Pidcock in seemingly the form of his life. Pogačar and Evenepoel stand in his way, among others, of completing the set, but the GB rider is relaxed, and ready.

The improvised Vuelta a España podium after this year's race was inspired by Tom Pidcock's mum, Jonas Vingegaard revealed this week.

Speaking at a presentation at Visma-Lease a Bike's headquarters, the Dane said that the moment was one of the "best moments of his career", according to Dutch outlet Wielerflits.

Protests cancelled the final stage of the Vuelta in Madrid on Sunday, with the official podium ceremony also cut as a result. However, thanks to an idea from Pidcock's mum, and the help of Visma-Lease a Bike, an impromptu presentation took place on top of some cool boxes in a hotel car park.

It was a special moment, the first Vuelta win of two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard's career, and the first Grand Tour podium for Pidcock.

"I think the idea came from Tom Pidcock’s mum," Vingegaard said, according to Domestique. “And then they grabbed it and said: 'Okay, then we arrange it.' They were in different hotels, and then they all came to our hotel, like schoolboys. We had to keep it a bit of a secret, otherwise the protestors would come. And also Matthew [Riccitello from Israel-Premier Tech] had to get the white jersey, of course, so I guess we had to keep it a bit of a secret.

"I was just very disappointed that we couldn’t go to Madrid and do the celebration there," he continued. "But actually it was a super nice way of celebrating it. It was way smaller and way more intimate in some kind of ways. So it was really a nice celebration. Actually it was a lot nicer than I thought it would be.

"It shows that in cycling we can actually stand together and get something like: 'Okay, we want to do something together.' And maybe not only there, but actually in the whole race with all these protests, for once as riders and teams we were standing more together, which we haven’t been able to do in recent years."

Vingegaard also expressed hope that protests wouldn't disrupt races as much in the future, but it also put a new perspective on cycling. Stage 11 in Bilbao was shortened, with no result, before stages 16 and 18 were also changed, and then the final stage was cancelled.

"It’s very easy to do a protest and stand on the road there," he said. "This is not the first time it has happened, though. But now it seemed like they realised, especially after the Bilbao stage, how vulnerable cycling is. They can really get into the media when they stop the race. I just hope the UCI or the organisers can do something about it, and that it won’t be a major problem in the future.

"I guess I just realised that cycling is not everything. Even if I don’t win, the world is still turning and there’s still a day tomorrow. Before this, I thought about it too much. I got really nervous a lot, but then I just worked my way through it. Now I’m even more relaxed than I’ve ever been. Before the Bola del Mundo [on stage 20, which he won] I realised if I do my best, I cannot do any more than that."

As for what is next, one thing looms above all, despite speculation of Vingegaard tackling the Giro d'Italia next year.

"Of course there’s still the Tour de France," he said. "The Tour is the Tour. It’s a very special race. I still dream of winning the Tour again. I would be lying if I said otherwise. And all these one-week stage races on the WorldTour, like the ones I haven’t won yet, those are also races that I kind of dream of winning."

Great Britain’s search for medals at the UCI Road World Championships next week will be led by Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley in the men’s events, and Anna Henderson, Cat Ferguson and Zoe Bäckstedt in the women’s events.

The 25-rider British squad for the championships, scheduled for 21-28 September in Kigali, Rwanda, was announced on Tuesday, with entrants named across the junior, under-23 and elite events.

In the elite men’s race, Q36.5 Pro Cycling's Pidcock will look to continue his climbing form that earned him his first Grand Tour podium finish at the recent Vuelta a España. The 26-year-old will be joined by seven others in the event, including Onley, who finished fourth at this summer’s Tour de France, as well as Fred Wright, James Knox, Mark Donovan, and elite Worlds debutants Joe Blackmore, Oliver Knight and Bjorn Koerdt.

There will be no British riders in the elite women’s road race for the first time in more than 30 years, despite Great Britain qualifying a team. Instead, the squad selectors have decided to focus on the inaugural under-23 women’s road race, which will take place as a separate event for the first time.

Ferguson, a double gold medallist in Zurich last year, is expected to spearhead the under-23 team, riding alongside British national champion Millie Couzens, Flora Perkins, Eilidh Shaw and Imogen Wolff in the road race. Bäckstedt, a three-time junior world champion and current British time trial champion, will compete in the under-23 women’s time trial.

Speaking ahead of the championships, Ferguson said she would “love to be in the top five” of the under-23 road race. “That would probably be a goal, but also I have to consider the plan for GB, and whether we go for someone else,” the 19-year-old Movistar rider said. “I just want to see how the race goes and work well together as a team.”

“If I could choose and have the perfect race, it would have less climbing,” Ferguson added.

The road race routes in Kigali have been billed as some of the hardest ever plotted at the World Championships. The elite men’s event, for example, stretches 267.5km with 5,475m of elevation. The women’s under-23 race is 119.3km with 2,435m of climbing.

In the elite time trials, Olympic silver medallist Anna Henderson will be the only rider representing Great Britain in Rwanda. Josh Tarling placed fourth last year, but has not raced since injuring his back at the Giro d’Italia in May, and has not been selected.

Erin Boothman will lead British hopes in the junior events, competing in both the women’s road race and time trial, and hoping to follow in the gold-medal-winning footsteps of Ferguson and Bäckstedt before her. The 18-year-old is already a four-time junior world champion on the track, and has joined Liv AlUla Jayco’s development team for 2026.

Commenting on the squad, GB performance director Stephen Park said: “The road world championships are always a prestigious event in the cycling calendar and it’s fantastic to be part of this historic event, the first road world championships in Africa.

“The event provides a tough course that will ask a lot from our riders, but I am confident that, as ever, they are up to the task and will bring home some fantastic results.”

The full 25-rider British team for the 2025 UCI World Championships in Rwanda is below.

Great Britain squad for UCI Road World Championships 2025

Elite men
Joe Blackmore
Mark Donovan
Oliver Knight
James Knox
Bjorn Koerdt
Oscar Onley
Tom Pidcock
Fred Wright

Elite women
Anna Henderson (TT only)

U23 men
Callum Thornley

U23 women
Zoe Bäckstedt (TT only)
Millie Couzens (TT and RR)
Cat Ferguson
Flora Perkins
Eilidh Shaw
Imogen Wolff

Junior men
Max Hinds (RR and TT)
Harry Hudson
Matthew Peace
Dylan Sage (RR and TT)

Junior women
Arabella Blackburn
Erin Boothman (RR and TT)
Gabriella McHugh
Abi Miller (RR and TT)
Mabli Phillips

It wasn't the Grand Tour podium that Tom Pidcock would have envisaged. There was no ticker tape, or crowds, or curated celebrations, but instead a hastily-assembled podium of cool boxes outside Visma-Lease a Bike's team hotel in Madrid.

Protests might have cut short stage 21 of the Vuelta a España, but they could not dampen Pidcock's achievements, as he finished third. He became the first male Olympic MTB champion to finish on the podium of a Grand Tour, and with Q36.5 Pro Cycling, the first rider from a second-division team to be on the podium since 2010.

Just eight British male riders had finished on the podium of a Grand Tour in history, so Pidcock is now part of an elite club. It is a huge jump for the 26-year-old too, as he had never previously finished above 13th at a Grand Tour, or even in the top five of any WorldTour stage race. He is now rubbing shoulders with some of the best in the world.

It is hard to overstate the performance. This was Pidcock, after a brutally hard three weeks, finishing third behind Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and ahead of more established general classification riders like former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), 2023 Vuelta winner Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team).

Eyebrows were raised when general classification was so loudly the aim for Pidcock and Q36.5 Pro Cycling pre-race, given his past form and that this was his team's second-ever Grand Tour. The team were, in fact, only invited to the Vuelta thanks to the number of invited teams being boosted to 23 this season.

"I think there's been so much talk around what I can do in Grand Tours and expectation – not really coming from myself to be honest, more from other people – this is a big deal, that I've shown that I can perform,” he explained to Cyclingnews after stage 20.

"OK, I'm a way off winning, but that doesn't mean I won't be closer in the future. I think in such a short time period, what we've achieved as a team is evident now I'm on the podium. So I can only be happy and positive and look forward to what I will do in the future."

The 26-year-old finished over three minutes behind Vingegaard, but was consistent throughout the race, only really looking a bit out of sorts on the vertiginous Alto de l’Angliru, where he still placed seventh. On stage 20 to the Bola del Mundo, Pidcock only lost seconds, securing his historic result.

It’s a new experience for Pidcock, who is learning all the time about being a GC rider.

"Before, I didn't enjoy Grand Tours, it was not so much fun,” he said. “So it [third in Madrid] is definitely something that has changed that perspective and showed me I can achieve what people closest to me believe I can and my team believes I can. It's a relief, almost – a weight off my shoulders.

"I wouldn't say boring, but it can be tedious, yeah, and monotonous. You have to play safe, and do the boring option, kind of. It's not as spontaneous and erratic, which is a more enjoyable way to race, so it's kind of [about] racing safe."

Now, there will be hope and expectation for Pidcock to return to the Tour de France next year, with his new team, but first, his achievement should be feted. This is the new, safe Pidcock, standing on a cool box, declaring his status as a Grand Tour contender.

The 17th stage of the Vuelta a España turned into a battle between white jersey hopefuls, as Giulio Pellizzari romped to an impressive solo victory at the Alto de El Morredero summit finish in north-west Spain.

As well as being Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's first stage win of the race, it was also the 21-year-old's first career win – and what a way to take it.

Behind him Matthew Riccitello (IPT), second on the youth classification, had also hung with the small group of elite favourites from which Pellizzari attacked, and he attempted again and again to chase the Italian down – to no avail.

At the finish line, 16 seconds behind Pellizzari, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) sprinted away from the group to take the four bonus seconds for second place as well as two seconds on closest GC chasing rival Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Holding on to his GC lead Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) came in close behind, followed by Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Riccitello.

After the stage both Vingegaard and Almeida confessed to not feeling at their very best, with the Dane conceding he was happy to have survived without losing time.

"I think the five or six of us were equal today," he said of the final selection. "I didn't have the very best day for me but I survived. That's the days you need to survive – the days you don't feel 100%. If you can get through those without losing any time, that's a good day."

Almeida said of Vingegaard: "He was not looking super. But I didn't as well. I think we're all a little bit in the same boat."

Asked about the fact he was distanced in the early part of the climb he said it was a strategic move that he knew would work out: "They were attacking quite hard, and I knew it was not a sustainable pace for them," he said. "So I just did my pace, and I knew I would get them back."

Vingegaard was also asked about tomorrow's 27km time trial at Valladolid, which mimics the one there in the 2023 race. That day saw him lose half a minute to Almeida.

The Dane said: "To be honest that was an awful time trial for me back then, so hopefully I can make it right this time. It's a flat time trial. Hopefully I can do well tomorrow."

How it happened

This upside-down horseshoe-shaped parcours around the hills and mountains of north-west Spain was all about the final climb.

There were plenty of lumps and bumps along the 143.2km stage between O Barco de Valdeorras and Alto de El Morredero, including the cat-three climb of the Passo de Traviesas at 75km.

But the final climb to the summit finish at El Morredero, with its vast, fire-blackened slopes only adding to the intimidation factor, towered over the stage and always looked like it would decide the winner.

Any early breakaway was always going to struggle to survive on its steep slopes – the 8.8km distance at 9.5% gradient tells the story.

All the same, a sizeable group went clear early on in the stage, determined to be the one that got away.

An initial eight-man break, including Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) clipped away with around 20km gone, and was soon joined by four more riders to make up enough firepower to last all the way to the El Morredero.

But the group never got more than around two minutes, and a last-ditch attempt to go free by Tiberi and Tejada in the final stages only lasted 11km.

With Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike pulling hard at the bottom of the final climb, even Almeida was distanced for a short while. But its steep gradients quickly sorted the wheat from the chaff, with only the top six on GC left – Vingegaard, Almeida, Pidcock, Hindley, Pellizzari and Riccitello.

Hindley tried to escape, but Pidcock was more than a match for the Aussie, and in the end he could only watch as his young team-mate Pellizzari disappeared up the road with 3.5km to go and, impressively, held on for the win.

Results

Vuelta a España 2025, stage 17: O Barco de Valdeorras > Alto de El Morredero, 143.2km

1. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, in 3:37:00
2. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +16s
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hangrohe, +18s
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +20s
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +22s
6. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +26s
7. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +53s
8. Torstein Træen (Nor) Bahrain Victorious, at same time
9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +58s
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:44

General classification after stage 17

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 64:54:55
2. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +50s
3. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +2:28
4. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:04
5. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:51
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +4:57
7. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +4:59
8. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +6:24
9. Torstein Træen (Nor) Bahrain Victorious, +7:06
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +10:16

A typically unrelenting second week in the Vuelta a España 2025 has seen the general classification crystallise as the favourites come to the fore and the hopefuls fall by the wayside.

There have been surprises though, including the way UAE Team Emirates-XRG continues to keep pulling winning card after winning card out of the deck, despite controversy over their team spirit.

And then there is Tom Pidcock's continued success in the general classification, with the Yorkshireman remaining on course for a Grand Tour best-ever.

In terms of the parcours, the Alto de L'Angliru was the stand out moment of the week, forcing everyone to dig deep as they pit man and machine against terrain. Impressive moments.

Let's take a look back over what we've seen in the Vuelta a España week two.

1. Jonas Vingegaard is not running away with this race

Jonas Vingegaard goes into the rest day with a 48-second cushion over next best rider Joāo Almeida. As far as cushions go, it is not the most comfortable. Think tatty bar stool rather than plush lounge armchair.

There's no doubt he would have preferred the plushness of, say, a two-minute gap, especially with the Portuguese rider looking as dangerous as he does.

After Vingegaard's PB-busting performances in the Tour de France, where he professed to have seen some of his best numbers and stood head and shoulders ahead of everyone in the race bar Tadej Pogačar, it might have been easy to assume that the Visma-Lease a Bike rider would walk the Vuelta a España.

But Almeida of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who has won three week-long stage races this year, is clearly on fine form and determined to push him till the end.

With an extremely tough week ahead that includes three summit finishes, two high mountain stages and a time trial, that 48-seconds could disappear rapidly down the plughole of one bad day. The GC still hangs in the balance.

2. The Angliru is still tough – but so are the riders

Much of the talk last week was of the fearsome Alto de L'Angiru on stage 13 – one of the toughest climbs not just in this race but in the entire repertoire of pro cycling. There's no doubt that its ultra-steep slopes, which surpass 20% in places and feature a six-kilometre section that averages between 10 and 16%, inspire fear in those tasked with racing up it.

And just in case the riders had forgotten what a 10%-plus slope looked like, the Angliru was preceded on the stage in short order by a pair of category-one climbs that featured plenty of them.

But for all the talk, the day itself was a thrilling masterclass in the power and grace of the professional bike rider (as well as the importance of choosing the right gear ratios).

The GC riders, led by Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) seized the climb by the scruff of the neck and powered from bottom to top without missing a beat.

It was clearly extremely hard going, but the panache with which it was ridden, not just by the top riders but pretty much all comers, reduced it to something far more palatable.

As someone who remembers riders crawling up steep climbs, zig-zagging across the road on corn-cob blocks, this modern taming of the terrain takes a touch of the spectacle away from it.

Nevertheless, it's an impressive watch.

3. Mads Pedersen's wait for a stage win is over

A classification leader's jersey is all about consistency rather than highs and lows. On occasion, for example, a rider will win a Grand Tour without actually winning a stage. It's never the preferred way, but the raison d'être of a GC rider is to win overall – everything else is secondary.

The raison d'être of the sprinter, on the other hand, is to cross the line first. That's why Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was sporting an expression of almost pathological relief when he won stage 15 to Monforte de Lemos on Sunday.

Barring incident, the green points jersey looks as though it will almost certainly be his on Sunday in Madrid – he currently leads second-placed Jonas Vingegaard by 98 points – but that all-important stage win had so far eluded him.

He came close in Ceres with second on stage three, losing out to David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), and he was fifth on the hilly stage 12, unable to bring back breakaway pair Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Javier Romo (Movistar).

Pedersen is not a pure sprinter. One of his strengths is his ability on lumpier, classics-style terrain. But all the same, he will now consider his green jersey campaign complete with the addition of a stage victory.

4. Tom Pidcock's GC campaign shows no sign of faltering

As the race closed out at Monforte de Lemos on Sunday evening, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) was still there in third place on GC, a useful (though far from decisive) 32 seconds ahead of fourth placed Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

This is uncharted territory for the Yorkshire rider. Never before this race has he ventured higher than fifth place on the overall, and that was for a single day in week one of the 2022 Tour de France.

This is very different. He's been ensconced in third place on the Vuelta for five days now, having spent the previous two days in fourth.

Week three does, of course, have a way of finding a rider out, as the distance and the mountains take their toll.

But the 26-year-old continues to look solid. If he can take this all the way to Madrid it will be a career high for him.

5. UAE Team Emirates-XRG appears to be an unstoppable juggernaut

When Juan Ayuso appeared to fall apart in week one, losing more than 10 minutes on GC on stage six to Andorra, it seemed as though one key weapon in the UAE Team Emirates-XRG armoury had been comprehensively decommissioned – at least for this race.

Their other GC contender, Joāo Almeida, may have remained, but the team looked severely weakened. (Ayuso's tirade against his employer in week two over his early contract termination didn't seem as though it would help either, but that's another story).

But few would have predicted that the team would continue to thrive, only appearing to become stronger and stronger as its riders inspired each to greater feats.

The situation as it stands, is that UAE Team Emirates has won seven of 15 stages. What makes this even more impressive is that this isn't down to one stand-out individual. Rather, these wins have been taken by four separate riders – Jay Vine (stages 6, 10) Ayuso (stages 7, 12), Almeida (stage 13), and Marc Soler (stage 14). Plus of course there is the cherry on the cake – their team time trial win.

The only question for UAE Team Emirates-XRG right now is who will win next.

There's something different about Tom Pidcock at this Vuelta a España. It's not just the tenacity, the best-ever general classification performance or the improved climbing legs, but a relaxed demeanour. It belies the fact that he might be under more pressure than ever; never before has the 26-year-old been this high up overall at a Grand Tour, and for a fifth day in a row he maintained it.

It wasn't just on any stage, either, but on stage 13, which finished on the Alto de L'Angliru, 12.4km at 9.7%, but with more than 5km over 11%. It's not for the faint-hearted.

"It’s a hard climb innit," Pidcock of Q36.5 Pro Cycling said at the finish. "It was super tough. Finding the rhythm there it’s unforgiving, at the start I was ok, but I knew I couldn’t continue that pace to the top. I think everyone slowed down, I think I only lost a minute and 20 or something. I just tried to do my own pace, but you can’t really, [I was] just fighting the whole way up, you don’t really get in a rhythm.:

The Yorkshireman did lose more than a minute to stage winner João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), and also 48 seconds to Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and 24 seconds to Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

However, his measured effort on the vertiginous slopes saw him hang onto third place overall, and this was not the end of his charge for the podium, or at least the top five in Madrid. Either would be a big deal.

"Not bad, I didn’t lose too much time," Pidcock said of his day. "I’d have liked to be at the front, but we’ve also got to be realistic, I think I did pretty good.

"I think I did a pretty good effort considering how long it was, but yeah I’ve broken numerous power records at this Vuelta, up to 20 minutes, half an hour."

The Angliru is the toughest climb of this Vuelta, but there are still four summit finishes at this race left, including stage 20's Bola de Mundo, 12.4km at 8.6%. There's also the small matter of a 27.2km time trial on stage 18.

"It is a little bit of an anomaly, but it tells us stuff to come," Pidcock said. "Hindley is obviously pretty strong, Gall is strong on longer climbs, so of course it tells us something."

This is a big learning experience, but also encouraging for the remaining tests. "I’m recovering pretty well, obviously it’s getting late in the race, so it’s taking its toll," he concluded.

Tom Pidcock had hoped for stage 11 of the Vuelta a España would end with joy, with a potential stage win alongside time gained on general classification rivals.

Instead, the day ended with frustration, as the stage was neutralised due to pro-Palestine protests at the finish line. Q36.5 Pro Cycling's Pidcock, alongside Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), took time on others, including João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but there was no stage win on offer.

GC times were taken at 3km to go, after Pidcock had briefly dropped Vingegaard on the Alto de Pike, before the pair worked together to build a gap towards what became the finish line.

"It’s hard to describe the disappointment to be honest," Pidcock told reporters at the finish line. "I felt like today was my day. I feel like there should always be a finish line, we’re not riding a sportive are we.

"I knew the finish line was at 3km [to go] but I didn’t know where that was. I was too busy trying to rotate with Jonas. We passed through there, I realised there wasn’t going to be a winner... It’s not easy. I think the Vuelta did what they could to keep us safe. I don’t want to say anything political, I don’t want to get into trouble."

The 26-year-old was forced to swerve protestors in the road on the Alto del Vivero holding a banner.

Pro-Palestine protests have been seen throughout this Vuelta, over Israel's war in Gaza, and Israel-Premier Tech's continued participation in the race.

"I think a lot of people have held back from talking about it publicly, but it’s a bit scary sometimes in the peloton," Pidcock said. "I think as long as our safety comes first, then we can continue racing, that’s what we’re here to do. Bike racing has nothing to do with things that are happening elsewhere…

"Putting us in danger isn’t going to help your cause," he continued. "It’s simply not going to help. They’ve got the right to protest about whatever they want, but putting us in danger is not the way forward.

"From what I was told today was going to be the biggest day of protests, so now on it might be better."

Despite the frustration, Pidcock moved onto the podium overall, the first time he has done this at a Grand Tour. He also managed to distance Vingegaard, something few have been able to do in the last few years.

Jonas Vingegaard and Tom Pidcock took time on their general classification rivals as stage 11 of the Vuelta a España ended with no stage winner.

The pair escaped on the final climb of the day, the Alto de Pike, with Q36.5 Pro Cycling's Pidcock briefly dropping Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike. They then descended to an improvised finish with 3km to go, appearing to take around 10 seconds on other riders.

The stage was shortened and neutralised due to pro-Palestine protests at the finish line, with no-one awarded the victory in Bilbao.

Pidcock took the bonus seconds atop the Pike, too, to gain time on everyone else in the race, including Vingegaard and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

"It’s hard to describe the disappointment to be honest," Pidcock said. "I felt like today was my day. I feel like there should always be a finish line, we’re not riding a sportive are we?"

"I was a bit disappointed and I didn’t want to do anything, but then Tom went for it, he went really fast on the climb, I had to let him go there," Vingegaard said post-stage. "Then I could come back over the top and then actually we had a good cooperation. We wanted to take as much time as possible. I’m not sure Tom actually knew that there was no stage winner, because he wanted to keep going afterwards. I knew already, so I just went as fast as possible to the 3km [to go] and I stopped.

"The team did super, super well today. Already in the start, I think it was really impressive that on a day where everyone wanted to be in the break, they managed to only let three guys up the road. I think that says it all really. Then we controlled it, and from there they just did super well."

How it happened

With seven classified climbs on stage 11, including one within the first 10km, it was set to be a day of breakneck speed racing around the Basque Country.

The neutralised start was briefly held up by a pro-Palestine protest, before the riders got away.

There were almost immediate attacks from Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), setting the tone for the day.

The first KoM point, the Alto de Laukiz, was crossed first by Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), followed by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Guillermo Thomas Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

There were seemingly endless attacks over the next 30km, but the Visma-Lease a Bike controlled peloton, riding for red jersey Jonas Vingegaard, remained in control.

The first significant break came with 133km to go, with Pedersen joined by Orluis Aular (Movistar) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Pedersen won the sprint atop the Alto de Sollube, but the attacks from the peloton did not end there, with Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education-EasyPost) among those attempting to escape, although this was shut down.

The leading trio – Pedersen, Soler and Aular – were not allowed much leeway by the peloton. On the Balcón de Bizkaia, Soler took the points.

With 79km to go, Pedersen and Aular were caught, with Soler going alone. On the Alto de Morga, Soler again claimed the points, followed by Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step) and Nicolau.

The attacks didn’t end, although Soler was caught. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) were away with 52km to go, with Landa taking the points on the Alto de Vivero.

Landa and Buitrago were still away as they crossed the finish line for the first time, followed by a chasing group which once again contained Pedersen. The latter achieved his goal of taking points in the intermediate sprint, despite his effort being disrupted by a protest.

Landa was then dropped, appearing to be in pain. Buitrago was still away on the penultimate climb, the Alto del Vivero, as attacks started coming from the group of favourites. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) led as the race passed Buitrago, with Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) also putting in a dig.

As the race passed the top of the Vivero, what was left of the peloton was a group of general classification favourites, including Vingegaard, Almeida, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Pellizzari and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe). Vingegaard was aided by Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The group swelled again at the bottom of the descent, before it was announced that there would be no stage winner due to protests at the finish. GC times would be taken with 3km to go.

However, the race appeared to be back on on the final climb of the Alto de Pike, with riders pushing on. Pidcock attacked with 8.4km to go, followed by Vingegaard and Hindley. The 26-year-old managed to drop Vingegaard briefly, as the pair rode away. As the climb reached 16%, Pidcock kept digging in, and put distance into Vingegaard, and sailed towards the six bonus seconds at the top. Four seconds went to Vingegaard, with two for Almeida.

On the descent, Pidcock and Vingegaard worked together, followed by Almeida, Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Hindley. While there would be no stage winner, the pair could still take time on their rivals, around 10 seconds in the end.

Results

Vuelta a España 2025 stage 11: Bilbao > Bilbao (157.4km)

No stage win awarded

Vuelta a España 2025 general classification after stage 11

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 41:14:02
2. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +50s
3. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +56s
4. Torstein Træen (Nor) Bahrain Victorious, +1:06
5. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +2:17
6. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:26
7. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:30
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:33
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +2:44
10. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +3:11

For all his success, Tom Pidcock has never finished in the top 10 overall at a Grand Tour. This is what he overtly came to this Vuelta a España to do, to take aim at a high finish on general classification in his second Grand Tour this season.

In fact, Q36.5 Pro Cycling's Pidcock has never been higher than fifth on GC mid-race at a Grand Tour, something which has changed this week with the 26-year-old up to fourth overall. While he is almost a minute behind red jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), it has been a very promising opening 10 days.

Sunday's stage nine was only the third time that the man from Leeds has finished in the top two on a Grand Tour stage, after his famous win on Alpe d’Huez three years ago at the Tour de France, and the gravel stage in the same race last year.

On stage 10, another mountain top finish, Pidcock led the GC contenders in, defending his fourth place overall, and giving himself more confidence. The Yorkshireman seems relaxed in his new guise, and seemingly comfortable mixing it with more established Grand Tour names.

"It was good," he explained to reporters. "I was feeling good today again, we have nothing to lose, we are here to try and win. We need to try, and tomorrow is another day.

"Today I backed up my ride the other day, so the more I do that the more confidence I have."

While other contenders have fallen behind, Pidcock has remained solid, advancing up the leaderboard, to be there among elevated company, in Vingegaard and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). He trails Almeida by 20 seconds, but leads other GC riders like Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) by over a minute.

Stage nine and 10 were the best evidence yet for Pidcock the GC rider, something which still remains a bit of an unknown at a three-week race. He has finished 13th at the Tour before, but any kind of top 10 here would be a significant result. A top five would be a level above, again.

"The start was super fast, but it wasn’t that hard in the wheels to be honest," he explained. "There are a lot of tired bodies, you can see that by the size of the peloton. The climb was pretty tough but it wasn’t too bad in the end.

"I feel super good. After a performance like I did on Sunday, it fills me with confidence, so the more that happens the better I feel."

This is a world away from the Giro d'Italia, which Pidcock raced in May, where he finished 16th overall and wasn't in the GC top 10 after the opening day.

"We knew that the Giro was a probability, but I said I wouldn’t change my plans, I’d do the Classics and the Ardennes and whatever," Pidcock said. "I didn’t want to sacrifice any of that. The Giro was too much I think, I was not fresh, I was not ready, but here’s different."

Wednesday sees a Classics-style stage around Bilbao, which would typically suit the Q36.5 rider. "I looked at it a bit, I don’t know it fully. I think it’s going to be a hard one, that’s for sure," he predicted.

What the Vuelta a España might lack in Grand Tour status it is surely making up for in difficulty this year, ensuring that this three weeks is no late-season phone-in for riders looking to tune up for the Road World Championships.

What amounts to very nearly the first half of the race has thrown up some fine days of racing as the breakaways attempt to capitalise on the hilly stages and the sprinters go all-out where they can. Even the GC race, slow-burning at first, has yielded its first surprises and big battles.

Let's take a look at some of what we've learned so far in this first nine days.

Tom Pidcock really is going for the GC

Tom Pidcock's announcement that he would be riding for the general classification at this year's Vuelta was met with a certain degree of dubiousness. After all, we had seen and heard this before at the Tour de France, where things didn't exactly pan out as intended.

But that was a different time, and a different team. Pidcock certainly seems happier since he left Ineos Grenadiers for Q36.5 Pro Cycling and the effect of that was perhaps what we saw in his riding on Sunday's ninth stage to Valdezcaray.

Up until then Pidcock had stayed quiet, chipping away with top 10s and top 20s on the days that mattered. But on stage nine he came out to play. Despite losing 24 seconds to stage winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the final count-up, Pidcock, together with Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) dropped the rest of the GC contenders to the tune of 38 seconds.

The 26-year-old ended the stage fourth on GC, and while there is a huge amount of hard riding still to do in this race, he had issued a major statement and climbed to the highest position he has ever known in a Grand Tour.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG looking good – but is 'good' enough?

According to the form book, the most concerted attempt to upset favourite Jonas Vingegaard's victory plans was going to come from UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

UAE's two-pronged attack started out with a pair of riders that have both been knocking on the door of a Grand Tour victory for a few years now in the form of Joāo Almeida and home rider Juan Ayuso.

As we now know, it is unlikely to be Ayuso's race – a bad day saw him finish nearly 12 minutes down on stage six to Pal. Andorra. While he bounced back to win the following day's stage to Cerler. Huesca La Magia, his performances over the weekend saw him finish well down on both days and surrender further GC placings.

Almeida on the other hand has ridden a solid race, shadowing Vingegaard everywhere he needed shadowing – until yesterday, when he lost 24 seconds.

He is now 38 seconds in arrears on GC to the Dane, and still within shouting distance with a lot of very tough racing left.

Vingegaard looks the strongest – so far

Coming into the Vuelta, few were in disagreement: Jonas Vingegaard was, and remains, the outright favourite to win on GC.

Yes, he lost the Tour de France to Tadej Pogačar. But Tadej Pogačar is not here, and when it comes to Grand Tour riding, few can hold a candle to the Pogačar-Vingegaard duality anyway.

Vingegaard had even professed to have seen his best ever power figures at the Tour, which won't have filled his Vuelta rivals with confidence.

However, the Dane built his season around the Tour, not the Vuelta, and while such details are unlikely to be unveiled until after the race, his numbers in Spain could easily be down on those from the Tour.

However, so far Vingegaard has been solid throughout, and based on his performance – and his team's – at Valdezcaray though, the Dane still appears to be the strongest rider in the race, and with the strongest riders around him.

That is, at least for now. This Vuelta is one of the hardest Grand Tours we've ever seen, and there is so much hard racing still to come. Can he keep it up all the way to Madrid?

Points but no wins yet for Pedersen

The make-up of the stages in this first week have been a good gauge of what the Vuelta looks like overall – that is, mountains-heavy.

The sprinters present are going to need to take any and every chance presented to them, and there are not going to be many.

Jasper Philipsen has so far proven to be the best at this, with his stage one victory rewarded with the bonus of the red leader's jersey, and netting a second stage win at the weekend on stage eight.

Despite being arguably more versatile, Philipsen's sprint rival Mads Pedersen has so far not managed this feat, although he came close with a second place at Ceres.

Instead the Dane's strategy has centred on intermediate sprints, of which he has won two and featured in the points in four.

But with the breakaways often hoovering up all the available points, and Ethan Vernon (IPT), who is second in the points classification, chasing hard behind (and sometimes prevailing), this is not the most surefire way to build out his lead. It is, however, the best option he's got for most of this very hilly race.

Hello, Giulio Pellizzari

The young Italian is repaying the faith that the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team put in him when they signed him on a three year contract at the end of last year.

His lead in the young rider classification has not wavered since he took it from Juan Ayuso on stage six (or, perhaps, when Ayuso handed it to him with an emphatic capitulation).

The 21-year-old climber has led USA's Matthew Riccitello (IPT) by 27 seconds since that fateful Andorra stage and has finished in the top 20 on all the hard mountain stages so far. He currently sits 10th overall.

Already this year he has finished sixth overall at the Giro d'Italia, where he was also second in the young rider competition.

It will be interesting to see how he develops over the next two seasons – but first he has to get through what is likely to be one of the hardest Grand Tours he'll ever ride.

With so much emotional investment poured into the season already, the Vuelta a España has to try harder than almost any other major race to stoke the fires of fandom. Once again this year the Spanish Grand Tour deserves full marks for effort, having curated a challenging parcours that promises to yield some fantastic racing.

The field, too, comprises some of the best Grand Tours riders in the world, including no less than Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), UAE Team Emirates-XRG dual-threat Juan Ayuso and Joāo Almeida, former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and last year's runner-up Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla). Also there, British fans will note, is Tom Pidcock of Q36.5 Pro Cycling.

The Vuelta route, too, is quite interesting. For the third time in four editions the race starts abroad – this time in northern Italy, beginning with a mass-start stage for only the third time this century.

It lingers abroad for four days, crossing into France on stage four for the second of two mid-mountain days that could see the first GC action.

Back in Spain a team time trial awaits, and from this point on there is little escape from the hills. Stage 13 in particular – lucky for some – will loom large over the race. The longest in the race at a comparatively modest 202km, it ends atop the steep, brutish Angliru.

This isn't a race for the sprinters, but any that have hung on till stage 19 will finally find another flat stage (the last stage ranked as properly flat is stage one), and another on the final day to a city-centre finish in Madrid.

Here are the contenders for the overall victory at the end of three weeks, as well as other riders to watch out for.

Vuelta a España red jersey contenders

Jonas Vingegaard
28 | Visma-Lease a Bike | Den
Previous Vuelta starts: 2
Best GC result: 2nd (2023)
Best stage result: 1st (x2)

Last time Jonas Vingegaard rode the Vuelta a España, he was upstaged by a team-mate that he arguably could have beaten to victory. While the Dane seemed OK with settling for second place behind Sepp Kuss (who had, after all, helped him to multiple Tour de France victories), team-mate Primož Roglič was not so amiable. The situation saw Visma immersed in a public furore and, win or lose, Vingegaard will be happy not have to deal with that this time round.

Unlike in 2023, when he had just won the Tour for the second time, Vingegaard has only won once this year, back in February. And while he podiumed eight times on his way to second place at the Tour, neither stage nor GC win happened for him there. He'll be looking to rectify that in Spain.

He's back at the Vuelta with Kuss, but as his team's unopposed leader this time around. In the absence of Tadej Pogačar, he is the almost unopposed favourite for the red jersey, although UAE Team Emirates-XRG will have something to say about this. The Dane has consistently been the best GC rider not called Tadej in the last few seasons, and a brutal Vuelta route will suit him.

Tom Pidcock
26 | Q36.5 Pro Cycling | Gbr
Previous Vuelta starts: 1 (2021)
Best GC result: 67
Best stage result: 4th

By Tom Pidcock standards, 2025 has so far been a pretty quiet year. Not just in terms of results, but in terms of controversy and high jinks and general… noise. And you get the impression that that is exactly how he likes it.

Now, on a three-year contract at new team Q36.5 Pro Cycling, Pidcock says he feels liberated.

“I feel like I’ve been let off the lead," he said earlier this season. "I’ve found new interest, life and energy in cycling. It’s really been revitalising."

In short, 2025 has seen a happier, less pressured Tom Pidcock.

And while the Yorkshire rider has had a quieter season, he has been far from invisible, winning the AlUla Tour back in February and placing top-10 in all three Ardennes Classics, as well as taking an impressive-by-any-standards second place at Strade Bianche.

Now, he says he is excited to have been invited to the Vuelta a España with his Q36.5 team – not something they would have taken for granted given their second-tier ProTeam ranking.

"I did my first Grand Tour four years ago in Spain and have great memories of it," Pidcock said. "Back then, everything was new, but this year, I go in with a lot more experience and higher expectations—especially with the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team by my side.”

Pidcock has not spelled out exactly what his approach will be, but it is likely to prioritise stage wins, while keeping half an eye on the GC.

Ben O’Connor
29 | Jayco AlUla | Aus
Previous Vuelta starts: 2
Best GC result: 2nd (2024)
Best stage result: 1st

Ben O’Connor returns to the race where he finished second overall last year, after spending almost two weeks in the race lead. The Vuelta will be the Australian’s second Grand Tour of the year, after he finished 11th at the Tour de France, picking up a stage win on the Col de la Loze on the way. His first year with Jayco AlUla has been up and down, but definitely seems on a positive trajectory after his second victory at the Tour.

It is unlikely the 29-year-old will be given as much rope as he was by Primož Roglič last year, but at a seriously climbing-heavy Vuelta, O’Connor has the tools to make hay, and could take the fight to Vingegaard, if he has recovered from the fatigue of the Tour. He will be ably supported by Eddie Dunbar and Chris Harper, two other climbers who could make their mark on this race.

Egan Bernal
28 | Ineos Grenadiers | Col
Previous Vuelta starts: 2
Best GC result: 6th (2021)
Best stage result: 4th

It has been a long road back for 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal. He was involved in a horror crash just days after his 25th birthday in January 2022, and has not long started to look like his old self again.

A seventh place on GC at this year's Giro d'Italia, as well as third place on a cat-one summit stage finish is by far his best Grand Tour result since before the accident.

After a two-month break, the Colombian returned to racing earlier this month at the Vuelta a Burgos, which should be good preparation for the Spanish Tour.

A GC win at the Vuelta would complete the set for Bernal, who also won the Giro in 2021, and he says, "It's my dream."

"I don't know if I'll achieve it or not, but the truth is I wake up every day thinking about being the best again."

Joāo Almeida
26 | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | Por
Previous Vuelta starts: 3
Best GC result: 4th (2022)
Best stage result: 3rd (x2)

There is only so much you can do with a broken rib, as Portugal's current best export found out during last month's Tour de France. Riding in the service of Tadej Pogačar as a key domestique, Almeida was caught up in a high-speed crash on stage seven, and was forced to abandon the following day.

It means he will be without the conditioning effect of riding the whole race – not to mention having to recover from his injuries. However, it should mean he is fresh, and he will likely have been training hard in the interim.

He has best finishes of fourth place in each of the Grand Tours, and up to the Tour de France, Almeida had a superb season, with wins at the Tour de Suisse, the Tour de Romandie and Itzulia Basque Country. He should prove a force to be reckoned with at the Vuelta.

Juan Ayuso
22 | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | Spain
Previous Vuelta starts: 2
Best GC result: 3rd
Best stage result: 3rd

At the beginning of May, Juan Ayuso headed to the Giro d’Italia as one of two outstanding favourites, along with Primož Roglič. Three weeks later, neither were on the podium, and both had left the race early. Ayuso had suffered the ignominy of being usurped by his UAE teammate Isaac del Toro in the general classification, and suffered a knee injury at the race.

Despite all this, there was a reason he was a favourite for the Giro, and those haven’t disappeared. The 22-year-old is the all-round GC package, with good time trialling, climbing and awareness skills. With Pogačar dropping the Vuelta from his schedule, a slot has opened up for Ayuso, and why couldn’t the Spaniard do better than a podium place this time around? If there is a Spanish rider ready to be the first to win the Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014, it very much is the young man from Barcelona.

Other GC hopes

Among the five Grand Tour winners on the start list is Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe). The Australian hasn’t won a stage race since he was triumphant at the 2022 Giro d’Italia, but will head to Spain hoping to achieve past form. If he doesn’t, his younger teammate Giulio Pellizzari finished sixth at the Giro this year, and is one of the coming things at the team.

Giulio Ciccone will lead Lidl-Trek for the race, who won the Clásica San Sebastián at the beginning of August, and who is in the hunt for GC and stage wins, and proved his form again at the Vuelta a Burgos with a stage win and second overall.

Fresh off the Tour de France is Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), a two-time winner of Paris-Nice. If Vingegaard doesn’t fire, the American is a capable deputy. Also heading to the Vuelta after the Tour are Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ), two riders who could test the top 10. Gall finished fifth in France, his best result in a Grand Tour to date.

Another Spanish hope, still searching for an overall victory after 10 top-10 results, is Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), who at 35 returns to his home race hoping for a first podium. He was in form going into the Giro, but crashed out on stage one. Anything would be better than that this time.

"It has completely revitalised me." Tom Pidcock flashes a broad smile in the early June sunshine streaming through the window of Red Bull's Athlete Performance Centre near Salzburg, Austria. He's reflecting on his transfer to Q36.5 at the end of last season - a move that seems to have breathed new life into the 26-year-old.

Moments earlier, he made it clear he doesn't want to dwell on the past - and who can blame him? His final months with Ineos Grenadiers were mired by a well-documented tension. But now, comfortably settled in new surroundings, Pidcock looks relaxed, recharged and ready to take on his next major target, the Vuelta a España.

"Coming here was a fresh start, that I really needed after all that," he says, referring to the strained period at Ineos.

"I can just be myself again, as there's no hassle here [at Q36.5]. I can just enjoy riding my bike again."

This laidback chat in Austria is a far cry from our last meeting in the pressurised cauldron of Florence, Italy, on the eve of the 2024 Tour de France. Back then, Pidcock appeared tense and uneasy as he faced a torrent of questions from reporters about frictions depicted in the Netflix series, Tour de France Unchained. Speculation was rife that he had played a part in the team's former lead DS Steve Cummings's being mysteriously sidelined from the race by Ineos. At the race's team presentation, Cycling Weekly asked Pidcock directly about the matter. He answered candidly, saying he believed Ineos would be "better" without Cummings - a response that all but confirmed his role in the DS's removal.

Whispers of Pidcock looking for a way out began to emerge shortly afterwards, as rumours of disharmony at Ineos took hold. He made his unhappiness clear, repeatedly hinting to the media that problems were brewing - a "number of things" behind the scenes meant he could not "perform optimally", he told Het Laatste Nieuws during the Tour of Britain. The crunch moment appeared to have come when he was deselected for Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the season.

He would never again pull on an Ineos jersey. Almost 10 months later, Pidcock says he still doesn't know why he was withdrawn from the Italian Classic. Even so, he insists that he harbours no resentment towards his former colleagues. "Fair play to them," he says by way of peace-making. "They've really turned it around lately. The way they're racing is quite ambitious, and it's nice to see that there's finally a bit more positivity and happiness around there again."

With the turbulence of the autumn behind him, Pidcock hit the ground running in his first races as a Q36.5 rider: he won the AlUla Tour in late January; finished second at Strade Bianche; sixth at Tirreno-Adriatico; and third at La Flèche Wallonne in a set of promising early-season results.

"I put in so much effort and mental energy to make sure that I started well here," he explains, emphasising his determination to repay the faith shown in him by his new paymasters. His only regret is that a crash at Milan-San Remo meant that he missed the winning move on the Cipressa.

"It took me a bit of time to get over that mentally," he says. "I knew I was in such good shape, I was confident that I could have been with those guys over the top of the climb and onto the Poggio, for sure."

Pidcock has never been one to hide how he feels - and he's refreshingly candid about his struggles to move on from setbacks. "When I have some success, I just get more and more motivated. But when something bad happens, I tend to sulk; it takes me a while to get over it. I'm not the sort of person that gets motivation from shit situations."

I later raised this trait with Pidcock's father, Giles, who suggests it was exacerbated by Tom's experience at Ineos. "Apart from winning the Tour, there was nothing that Tom could have ever done at Ineos which would have got any praise out of anyone," says Pidcock senior. "What's the difference at Q36.5? "Now, when he achieves something, it's brilliant for the new team, they love it and they make that clear to him." In Giles's view, Tom is no longer just a number in a system but recognised as an individual - and the result is an uplift in confidence.

Despite a packed spring spent deep in the Classics, Pidcock says the confidence placed in him at Q36.5 allowed him to arrive at the Giro d'Italia primed to perform - even if he felt slightly underprepared. "It was definitely the strongest Grand Tour that I've ever done," he says. "I was consistent, I recovered well and I felt strong every day, so I was pretty happy with everything."

The biggest takeaway, he says, was learning to adapt to the sustained efforts demanded by the Giro's mammoth climbs. "That experience has made me a stronger bike rider," he adds, "and will help me win big races."

Pidcock's biggest road win to date remains his Alpe d'Huez triumph in the 2022 Tour de France. As a ProTeam outfit, Q36.5 rely on getting a wildcard invitation to the Tour, which this year didn't arrive. Did Pidcock miss being present at the world's biggest race? Not especially, according to his long-time coach Kurt Bogaerts. "Seeing how the Tour was ridden by some riders was especially motivating for Tom," he says. "I think seeing how guys like Ben Healy and Oscar Onley rode was amazing, and gave him a lot to think about."

The move to a second-tier team has further downsides beyond the lack of invites to top-tier races. First and foremost, Pidcock is no longer surrounded by high-calibre supporting riders. Q36.5 are in the process of strengthening their squad, with Britain's Fred Wright joining the team from Bahrain Victorious, but the firepower will remain a long way short of Ineos's. In terms of personal cost, it is unclear if the move represents a financial downgrade for Pidcock, who was reported to have earned more than £3m per year at Ineos - a figure possibly beyond Q36.5's budget. Despite the deep pockets of their billionaire backer Ivan Glasenberg. On the flipside, Pidcock is now very much the main man of the team - an enhancement in status that may suit him.

Bogaerts explains that Pidcock will approach the Vuelta with an opportunistic mindset. "Tom just wants to do a solid race in Spain and take opportunities where he can," he says. "Being consistently with the better riders, that would be a great step forward for us." Pidcock agrees - but not with the aim of being a breakaway specialist. His goal is to stay with the GC contenders deep into tough stages, and make moves when others begin to fade. "The way I'll have the most success in a Grand Tour is being strong enough to win from the front group, that's just how I see it," he says.

Could an even bigger step forward be challenging for overall victory at the Vuelta? Ever since Pidcock burst onto the pro scene, speculation about his Grand Tour potential has followed him, even as those around him have tried to temper expectations. With standout results across all three major cycling disciplines - including two Olympic mountain bike titles - the idea isn't far-fetched. But does Pidcock still carry that ambition?

"If I can ever get on the podium, or if I win one, then it would be the biggest achievement of my career," he says firmly. "For me to work so hard in training and then translate that into a three-week race would be a bigger challenge, so it would be bigger than winning at the Olympics."

Only a handful of riders stand between Pidcock and Grand Tour contenders - chief among them, Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian may have bested him at Strade Bianche in March, but not before Pidcock demonstrated superior ability to stay out of trouble on the gravel. How can the Yorkshireman convert one-day brilliance into three-week consistency and reshape himself as a true Grand Tour threat? Durability is being developed through increased gym work, explains Bogaerts. “We added some more strength work this year and we’ve really noticed its benefit to Tom. It’s also helped us prevent injuries, and I think we’re in a really good place now, ahead of the Vuelta.”

There is confidence that the newer, stronger Pidcock is ready for the fight in Spain. The question of how he will fare against Pogačar will have to wait a little longer. In the aftermath of claiming his fourth Tour title, the Slovenian withdrew from the Vuelta citing fatigue. “It didn’t really matter [to our preparation] if he was going to be there or not,” says Bogaerts. “We hadn’t really thought about it. The same goes for [Jonas] Vingegaard. You just concentrate on yourself, always – we know we have prepared well for this and what’s coming afterwards.”

Pidcock’s next showdown with Pogačar is likely to come at the road World Championships in Rwanda, in September, provided he gets through the Vuelta unscathed. Bogaerts is unequivocal: the trip to east Africa won’t be for sightseeing, but for a shot at the rainbow jersey Pogačar claimed in Zurich last year. “A rider’s career isn’t endless,” he says. “Every year you skip a Worlds is an opportunity missed. In an ideal world, if we stick to the plan and Tom recovers well after the Vuelta, then it’s definitely within his capabilities to go there and compete.”

Within Pidcock's camp, there's quiet confidence that he's closing the gap on the sport's very best - even if Tadej Pogačar, with his extraordinary all-round capabilities, remains a level above for now. In truth, few would claim Pidcock is not in the Slovenian's league across a full Grand Tour. But in certain areas - technical descending, dealing with loose surfaces - he may already have the upper hand. More importantly, since stepping away from the more rigid structures of his former team, Pidcock seems to have rediscovered the joy that first fuelled his rise. And with that joy, his family believes, comes the freedom to aim higher. "Whether he can go on and beat Pogačar remains to be seen," says his dad Giles, "but I think he will definitely be able to close the gap - that's for sure."

Tom Pidcock is to head to the Vuelta a España "curious" to see how he can do on general classification on a route which "suits him perfectly".

The 26-year-old's expected participation in the Spanish Grand Tour was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon by his Q36.5 Pro Cycling team, as they announced their eight-man lineup.

It means Pidcock will ride his second Grand Tour of the year, after he rode the Giro d'Italia for the ProTeam earlier in the season, where he thrice finished in the top five on stages, and ended 16th overall. Pidcock has won five times this season, most recently on stage three of the Arctic Race of Norway.

Joining the Yorkshireman will be David de la Cruz in his 10th Vuelta, and Damien Howson, among others. It will be Q36.5's first time at the three-week race, with the squad requiring invites to WorldTour events.

"The course this year is very diverse but still typical of the Vuelta, with its many uphill finishes,” Pidcock said in a team statement. "There are plenty of stages with profiles that could suit a rider like me, and there’s even a stage in Andorra, quite close to where I live.

"We learned from the Giro and had more time for thorough preparation this time, with an altitude camp and the Arctic Race of Norway. I’m curious to see what I can do in the general classification. For that, we have a strong team, with riders who each bring their own strengths. It’s a well-rounded group, we’ve prepared well, and I’m really looking forward to starting in Piemonte this Saturday with the boys."

Q36.5's head of racing, Alex Sans Vega, echoed Pidcock: "I am curious how far he can go in the GC because the course suits him perfectly. We have a strong team in general and I am confident for a good team performance. Tom will have Damo [Howson], Zuke [Nickolas Zukowsky] and Xabier Mikel [Azparren] with him, like he did in the Giro d’Italia. A special mention for David de la Cruz who brings experience and knows this race so well."

"I am grateful to the organisers we have the opportunity to race here," De la Cruz said. "It helps the team grow. I will help Tom like in Tirreno [Adriatico] where we were a good tandem. He is exploring his capacities as a Grand Tour rider. No one knows yet, even himself, what he can do and I am happy to help with my experience but I also look forward to get my own chance when one presents itself."

Find out who else is riding the Vuelta on our start list page.

Two late changes have been made to the start list for the Vuelta a España, which begins this Saturday, 23 August.

Damiano Caruso is out of the race for Bahrain Victorious after he fractured his hand slipping over "accidentally" on the floor this week, and is replaced by Finlay Pickering. Ben Turner, meanwhile, joins Ineos Grenadiers after Lucas Hamilton fell ill.

All teams have been announced for the 80th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour, ahead of three weeks of racing from Turin, Italy, to Madrid on 14 September.

Every squad has eight riders, with varying objectives; some teams aim for the overall win or top 10 on the general classification, while others aim for stage wins, sprints or otherwise.

Egan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro d'Italia, will be supported by a strong Ineos Grenadiers team which includes Filippo Ganna and Michał Kwiatkowski.

"My preparation has been good, and with the team we’re bringing - a mix of Grand Tour winners, strong support and guys hungry to show themselves - we can be confident," Bernal said in a statement.

After withdrawing early from the Tour de France after breaking his collarbone, Jasper Philipsen returns to Grand Tour action for Alpecin-Deceuninck at the Vuelta. He comes with a lead-out train, looking to add to his three previous stage wins.

Soudal Quick-Step have become T-Rex Quick-Step for the Vuelta a España and will be led by Mikel Landa, supported by Tour de France stage winner Valentin Paret-Peintre.

Fresh from winning the Tour of Denmark, Mads Pedersen will lead Lidl-Trek alongside Giulio Ciccone.

Pedersen, a four-time stage winner at this year's Giro, will seek to add to his three previous Vuelta stage wins, as Lidl-Trek chase a clean sweep of points jerseys at Grand Tours this season.

He will ride with a mixed team which includes Ciccone, a three-time Giro stage winner.

Jayco AlUla head to the Vuelta with Ben O'Connor, who finished second overall last year, off the back of winning the Col de la Loze stage at the Tour de France. He will be joined by Eddie Dunbar, who crashed out of the Tour, and Chris Harper, stage winner at the Giro.

Visma-Lease a Bike will be led by Jonas Vingegaard, second at the recent Tour de France. He will attempt to win the Vuelta for the first time, to add to his two Tour crowns. Visma won the Giro d'Italia this year through Simon Yates, so would win a second Grand Tour of 2025 were they to triumph in Spain.

The Dane will be joined by Matteo Jorgenson, former winner Sepp Kuss, Victor Campenaerts, Dylan van Baarle, Wilco Kelderman, Ben Tulett and Axel Zingle.

“The overall win is our big goal, there’s no need to be coy about that,” Grischa Niermann, the team's head of racing, said. “Jonas is our leader and our biggest chance for the overall victory. But with Sepp, we have a former winner at the start, and Matteo has recovered well after the Tour de France."

UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who won the Tour through Tadej Pogačar, announced their eight for the Vuelta earlier in August, with the Slovenian absent.

They will be led by João Almeida and Juan Ayuso as they attempt to claim the red jersey; Almeida will be a top favourite alongside Vingegaard for overall victory.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe will not bring defending champion Primož Roglič, instead targeting success through Giulio Pellizzari and Jai Hindley.

Tom Pidcock was confirmed to be leading Q36.5 Pro Cycling at the Vuelta, alongside David de la Cruz and Damien Howson.

Picnic PostNL are without Max Poole, but bring a mixed squad with Chris Hamilton, Kevin Vermaerke, and Casper van Uden.

Meanwhile, Felix Gall leads Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, fresh from finishing fifth overall at the Tour de France.

There are six riders aged 25 or younger in EF Education-EasyPost's squad, which includes Grand Tour debuts for Archie Ryan, Markel Beloki, Lukas Nerurkar and Jardi van der Lee.

Meanwhile, Bahrain Victorious are targeting the podium through Antonio Tiberi and stage wins with an experienced eight.

Groupama-FDJ take experience and stage-winning options to the Vuelta, through Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Stefan Küng and David Gaudu, among others.

XDS Astana head to Spain with Harold Martín Lopez, Sergio Higuita and Harold Tejada, while Intermarché-Wanty bring Louis Meintjes and Dion Smith in a mixed squad.

Movistar are without their big GC hope Enric Mas or former winner Nairo Quintana, but do come with Pablo Castrillo, a two-time stage winner at last year's race.

There are 18 WorldTour teams and five ProTeams on the start list; the WorldTour teams have automatic entry, along with Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech as the two best-ranked ProTeams of 2024. The other three invites are handed out at the organiser's discretion.

The full list of teams set to compete at the Vuelta are below.

Vuelta a España 2025 start list

Alpecin-Deceuninck
PLANCKAERT Edward (Bel)
PHILIPSEN Jasper (Bel)
RICKAERT Jonas (Bel)
VERGALLITO Luca (Ita)
BAYER Tobias (Aut)
GLIVAR Gal (Slo)
DEBRUYNE Ramses (Bel)
RIESEBEEK Oscar (Ned)

Arkéa-B&B Hotels
GUERNALEC Victor (Fra)
BIERMANS Jenthe (Bel)
GARCÍA PIERNA Raúl (Esp)
ROULAND Louis (Fra)
THIERRY Pierre (Fra)
RODRÍGUEZ Cristián (Esp)
VERRE Alessandro (Ita)
LOZOUET Léandre (Fra)

Bahrain Victorious
BUITRAGO Santiago (Col)
BURATTI Nicolò (Ita)
PICKERING Finlay (GBr)
ERMAKOV Roman (Rus)
HAIG Jack (Aus)
PAASCHENS Mathijs (Ned)
TIBERI Antonio (Ita)
TRÆEN Torsten (Nor)

Burgos Burpellet BH
FAGÚNDEZ Eric Antonio (Uru)
APARICIO Mario (Esp)
CHUMIL Sergio Geovani (Gua)
FAURA José Luis (Esp)
CAVIA Daniel (Esp)
DE LA CALLE Hugo (Esp)
GARCÍA PIERNA Carlos (Esp)
FERNÁNDEZ Sinuhé (Esp)

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
BARCELÓ Fernando (Esp)
SILVA Guillermo Thomas (Uru)
OTRUBA Jakub (Cze)
BOU Joan (Esp)
NICOLAU Joel (Esp)
GUARDEÑO Jaume (Esp)
BALDERSTONE Abel (Esp)
MOLENAAR Alex (Ned)

Cofidis
CARR Simon (GBr)
ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław (Pol)
BUCHMANN Emanuel (Ger)
COQUARD Bryan (Fra)
HERRADA Jesús (Esp)
KNIGHT Oliver (GBr)
OURSELIN Paul (Fra)
SAMITIER Sergio (Esp)

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
BISIAUX Léo (Fra)
GALL Felix (Aut)
PETERS Nans (Fra)
STAUNE-MITTET Johannes (Nor)
DE PESTEL Sander (BEl)
ARMIRAIL Bruno (Fra)
LABROSSE Jordan (Fra)
SCOTSON Callum (Aus)

EF Education-EasyPost
BELOKI Markel (Esp)
CHAVES Esteban (Col)
MIHKELS Madis (Est)
NERURKAR Lukas (GBr)
QUINN Sean (USA)
RYAN Archie (Ire)
SHAW James (GBr)
VAN DER LEE Jardi (Ned)

Groupama-FDJ
MARTIN GUYONNET Guillaume (Fra)
KÜNG Stefan (Sui)
GAUDU David (Fra)
CAVAGNA Remi (Fra)
MOLARD Rudy (Fra)
BRAZ AFONSO Clément (Fra)
ROLLAND Brieuc (Fra)
GRUEL Thibaud (Fra)

Ineos Grenadiers
BERNAL Egan (Col)
GANNA Filippo (Ita)
KWIATKOWSKI Michał (Pol)
JUNGELS Bob (Lux)
RIVERA Brandon Smith (Col)
SHEFFIELD Magnus (USA)
LANGELLOTTI Victor (Mon)
TURNER Ben (GBr)

Intermarché-Wanty
VAN BOVEN Luca (Bel)
SMITH Dion (NZl)
PETILLI Simone (Ita)
MEINTJES Louis (RSA)
MARIT Arne (Bel)
DE POOTER Dries (Bel)
BONNEU Kamiel (Bel)
ARTZ Huub (Ned)

Israel-Premier Tech
FRIGO Marco (Ita)
RICCITELLO Matthew (USA)
VERNON Ethan (GBr)
RAISBERG Nadav (Isr)
STEWART Jake (GBr)
CÔTÉ Pier-André (Can)
BENNETT George (NZl)
HIRT Jan (Cze)

Jayco AlUla
DUNBAR Eddie (Ire)
O'CONNOR Ben (Aus)
HARPER Chris (Aus)
GAMPER Patrick (Aut)
BOUWMAN Koen (Ned)
FOLDAGER Anders (Den)
O'BRIEN Kelland (Aus)
JUUL-JENSEN Christopher (Den)

Lidl-Trek
PEDERSEN Mads (Den)
CICCONE Giulio (Ita)
HOOLE Daan (Ned)
KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren (Den)
VERONA Carlos (Spa)
BERNARD Julien (Fra)
BAGIOLI Andrea (Ita)
GHEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel (Eri)

Lotto
LIVYNS Arjen (Bel)
VIVIANI Elia (Ita)
SEPÚLVEDA Eduardo (Arg)
SLOCK Liam (Bel)
SEGAERT Alec (Bel)
DE BUYST Jasper (Bel)
GREGAARD Jonas (Den)
CRAPS Lars (Bel)

Movistar
CASTRILLO Pablo (Esp)
GARCÍA CORTINA Iván (Esp)
HESSMANN Michel (Ger)
ROMO Javier (Esp)
ARCAS Jorge (Esp)
CEPEDA Jefferson (Ecu)
CANAL Carlos (Esp)
Aular Orluis (Ven)

Picnic PostNL
KOERDT Bjorn (GBr)
EDDY Patrick (Aus)
HAMILTON Chris (Aus)
LEEMREIZE Gijs (Ned)
MARTINEZ Juan Guillermo (Col)
ROOSEN Timo (Ned)
VAN UDEN Casper (Ned)
VERMAERKE Kevin (USA)

Q36.5 Pro Cycling
PIDCOCK Tom (GBr)
DE LA CRUZ David (Esp)
ZUKOWSKY Nickolas (Can)
AZPARREN Xabier Mikel (Esp)
CAMPRUBÍ Marcel (Esp)
CHRISTEN Fabio (Sui)
GONZALÉZ David (Esp)
HOWSON Damien (Aus)

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
HINDLEY Jai (Aus)
VAN DIJKE Tim (Ned)
PELLIZZARI Giulio (Ita)
ALEOTTI Giovanni (Ita)
SOBRERO Matteo (Ita)
DENZ Nico (Ger)
FISHER-BLACK Finn (NZl)
ZWIEHOFF Ben (Ger)

T-Rex Quick-Step
LANDA Mikel (Esp)
VERVAEKE Louis (Bel)
PARET-PEINTRE Valentin (Fra)
REINDERINK Pepijn (Ned)
LECERF Junior (Bel)
GAROFOLI Gianmarco (Ita)
SCHACHMANN Maximilian (Ger)
VANSEVENANT Mauri (Bel)

UAE Team Emirates-XRG
ALMEIDA João (Por)
SOLER Marc (Esp)
VINE Jay (Aus)
OLIVEIRA Ivo (Por)
GROẞCHARTNER Felix (Aut)
AYUSO Juan (Esp)
NOVAK Domen (Slo)
Bjerg Mikkel (Den)

Visma-Lease a Bike
VINGEGAARD Jonas (Den)
JORGENSON Matteo (USA)
KUSS Sepp (USA)
CAMPENAERTS Victor (Bel)
TULETT Ben (GBr)
ZINGLE Axel (Fra)
KELDERMAN Wilco (Ned)
VAN BAARLE Dylan (Ned)

XDS Astana
HIGUITA Sergio (Col)
TEJADA Harold (Col)
LÓPEZ Harold Martín (Ecu)
FORTUNATO Lorenzo (Ita)
CONCI Nicola (Ita)
MASNADA Fausto (Ita)
VINOKOUROV Nicolas (Kaz)
POELS Wout (Ned)

Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG will appear at the Tour of Britain Men for the first time this September as part of a 19-team field that will contest the race.

However, the Slovenian is unlikely to be part of the UAE squad for the six-day competition. Pogačar was initially due to race the Vuelta a España after claiming a fourth Tour de France title, although he withdrew from the race earlier this week due to fatigue; he will return to competition at the GPs de Québec and Montréal in Canada before the World Championships.

As well as UAE, eight other WorldTour squads will be on the start line in Suffolk on 2 September: Visma-Lease a Bike, Groupama-FDJ, Bahrain Victorious, Ineos Grenadiers, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Soudal Quick-Step, Lidl-Trek, and Picnic PostNL. Similarly to UAE, Groupama-FDJ will also debut at the event.

Soudal Quick-Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike are the three most successful teams in the history of the modern Tour of Britain, having won a total of 64 individual stages between them.

Apart from the presence of Geraint Thomas, no other riders have been confirmed as part of the start list yet. The Welshman is due to retire at the end of the race in his hometown of Cardiff. Ahead of the World Championships, it's possible for riders to attend the Tour of Britain as a warm up race, as Wout van Aert did when he triumphed in 2021 and 2023 and could be part of the Visma team selection once more.

Elsewhere, eight ProTeam level squads are set to take part. Israel-Premier Tech - the team of last year's winner, Stevie Williams - are set to return, as are Uno-X Mobility, Unibet Tietema-Rockets, Kern Pharma, Flanders-Baloise, and Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The third squad making its Tour of Britain debut is Tudor Pro Cycling, the team of the two-time road World Champion Julian Alaphilippe.

After impressing with aggressive riding in last year's event, the Anicolour-Tien 21 squad will return to the race next month. The Portuguese registered team will be the only UCI Continental team included. Great Britain will also field a six-rider strong team as usual.

"This year's line-up of teams for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men is one of the best that we have ever seen assembled for the race, and shows the status with which the event is held by UCI WorldTour and Pro Teams," said the race's managing director, Jonathan Day. "Excitement is building for September, and what will be a highly competitive Lloyds Tour of Britain Men. We cannot wait to see these teams in action."

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men gets underway in Woodbridge, Suffolk on 2 September.

Tom Pidcock will return to road competition at the Arctic Race of Norway in early August ahead of the Vuelta a España.

The 26-year-old was recently crowned European mountain bike champion for a second time during a break from road racing. His last road race being the Giro d’Italia in May, where he finished 16th. Pidcock also recently won a round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Andorra where he lives.

He is now back in full training as he begins the build up for his second Grand Tour of the season. Pidcock will lead Q36.5 at the Vuelta as he looks to build on a consistent showing at the Giro. Part of his final preparation will now involve a trip to Scandinavia next week.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Pidcock's coach, Kurt Bogaerts, explained the decision to select the Arctic Race as his final Vuelta tune up and reflected on a successful start to life at Q36.5.

"I think whenever you're going into a Grand Tour then it's good to test the legs beforehand on the road," Bogaerts said. "It's really energising for Tom to go to different places and do races that he hasn't done before. This is a race we are yet to do, which is also why we were also keen to do the AlUla Tour earlier this year, we also never did Ruta del Sol.

"We had heard a lot about the Arctic Race, we heard it was a nice race and so I think it will be ideal for us to test the legs there. We had three opportunities with the team - we could do the Tour de l'Ain, the Vuelta a Burgos or the Arctic Race.

"We chose the last one with Tom and it will be a really good opener, a good test for us ahead of this next block of racing."

Pidcock hit the ground running at Q36.5 after his transfer from Ineos Grenadiers during the winter. He won the AlUla Tour in late January before his Classics campaign. During that period, Pidcock took second at Strade Bianche behind Tadej Pogačar in another solid showing at the one day race in Tuscany.

"We were very pleased with second. I think in general Tom has had a really consistent season so far and with the Giro he was really good after such an intense block of racing early on," Bogaerts added.

"He was super competitive which was exactly as we had hoped for. He had done a lot of racing up until the Giro finished, which I was really pleased with. We then did the off-road stuff and that was a really good change mid-season; taking the European champions jersey on the mountain bike has given him a lot of faith and belief for the rest of the year now."

As well as the Arctic Race and Vuelta, Bogaerts explained that Pidcock will likely race the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda. Pidcock also previously told Cycling Weekly that he will ride the late season Italian races and the Gravel World Championships in the Netherlands.

"Hopefully for the second part of the season we can now continue that form from early on and carry on to achieve our goals," Bogaerts said.

"Tom has really worked himself back up again physically during the break after the Giro. We've certainly noticed that in a few checks that we’ve done where we've seen it in the numbers that he has produced too - the best check though is always in race of course.

"We know that mountain biking is a really strong discipline for him so keeping on top of that area is important for both him and us. It's actually always a really good check point and gives us a lot of belief for what’s coming up."

Double Olympic gold medallist, mountain bike world champion, Tour de France stage winner - there isn’t much Tom Pidcock hasn’t won (or at least, tried) in the world of bikes. The Brit has risen to the top in the off-road scene, as well as on, and continues to win.

Pidcock’s latest victory took place in Portugal’s dusty Melgaço last Sunday at the European MTB Championships in the cross-country (XCO) event. Fellow Brit Charlie Aldridge followed just behind in second, with Denmark’s Simon Andreassen completing the podium.

The Championships were a display of British mountain biking, with Evie Richards taking second in the women’s rCXCO ace, one minute and 19 seconds behind Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds just a few hours before the men's race kicked off.

In the men's event the early race lead came from Switzerland’s Filippo Colombo, with Aldridge hanging defiantly onto his wheel for the majority of the race’s first half, until the Brit pushed past, the white-blue GB kit flashing through the Portuguese woodland.

The nine-lap course snaked through Peneda-Gerês National Park’s woodland, over exposed roots and white-yellow grass before tackling a rock garden fringed with yellow and black hazard signs, a reminder of the danger posed to the riders wearing only helmets and lycra for protection.

At lap five, however, the race rearranged, with Pidcock asserting his dominance over his compatriot, pushing into first for the remainder of the race.

In a time of 1:21:02, Pidcock crossed the line a clear 36 seconds faster than Aldridge, with enough time to free-wheel close to the spectators, high-fiving to the finish line. Denmark’s Simon Andreassen finished in third, one minute and fifteen seconds behind Aldridge. The early race leader Colombo finished in 4th, having fallen victim to the tough terrain, mud covering the white and red of his jersey.

This latest success marks Pidcock’s second victory in the European Championships, after he became the first Briton to win the title in Munich in 2022. Earlier this month, he took his first World Cup victory of the season (his eighth overall), battling into first place at the UCI XCO race in Andorra.

The man from Leeds has dovetailed on- and off-road programmes this year, with a busy Spring Classics campaign and the Giro d'Italia making way for MTB over the summer, before he targets the Vuelta a España at the end of August.

Tom Pidcock, one of the best descenders in the pro peloton, has given another masterclass in going downhill, this time hitting almost 100kph down a mountain in Germany.

In a new video shared by energy drinks brand Red Bull, the double Olympic mountain bike champion is shown descending at full tilt from the Rossfeld Panorama, a mountain pass on the Austria-Germany border. He is followed on the 6km stretch by Matthias Walkner, a Dakar Rally champion, who films from a motorbike.

During the winding descent, Pidcock reaches a maximum speed of 95kph, at points riding out of the saddle at more than 800 watts.

He also adopts the ‘supertuck’ position for long stretches, lowering his upper body onto his bike’s top tube to gain an aero advantage. The position was banned in races by the UCI in early 2021, but can be done outside of competition.

Commenting on the video, Red Bull, who are a personal sponsor of Pidcock’s, said: “[It] encapsulates the enormous risks of professional road cycling, bringing into sharp focus the pure speed and remarkable trajectories that world class cyclists like Pidcock master on a regular basis.”

Towards the end of the descent, rally rider turned videographer Walkner can be heard laughing at Pidcock’s speed. The Q36.5 rider then comes to a skidding halt at the end, having descended more than 500m in five minutes, before Walkner tows him back uphill with a rope.

In early 2023, a video of Pidcock descending the Tuna Canyon descent in Los Angeles, captured by downhill maestro Safa Brian, went viral, gathering more than 2.5 million views.

The Brit’s descending skills first rose to prominence during his Tour de France debut in 2022, when he won a stage on Alpe d’Huez. That day, Pidcock ripped down the descents of the Col du Galibier and the Col de la Croix de Fer, reaching speeds in excess of 100kph on the latter, and dropping other riders with ease.

At the time, the 25-year-old put his descending ability down to riding off-road after school as a child. “I’ve become very used to riding the bike and handling it where it’s on the limit of control,” he said.

Speaking to GCN last year, Pidcock stressed his main piece of advice for riding fast downhill is to have confidence. “Building it up slowly without crashing while you’re learning the skills is really important,” he said.

“Going on the drops is better, lower centre of gravity. Then as you approach the corner, you want to be putting your outside leg straight, the pedal down, and then – it’s a bit counterintuitive – put your weight on the inside of your handlebars, and that will lean the bike in. You don’t have to turn.”

The 25-year-old placed 16th on his Giro d'Italia debut earlier this month, and is expected to ride the Vuelta a España later this year.