'If we can enjoy the suffering as a team, then the results will come' – Tom Pidcock to return to Tour de France with Pinarello-Q36.5

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.