{"id":187550,"date":"2025-02-25T12:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T12:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyclist.co.uk\/?p=187550"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:24:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T12:24:40","slug":"tom-pidcock-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyclist.co.uk\/in-depth\/tom-pidcock-profile","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was made out to be the bad guy\u2019: Tom Pidcock profile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tom Pidcock is a company man. When Cyclist<\/em> meets him in London<\/a> in mid-November he\u2019s here to promote his Link My Ride<\/a> app (click here<\/a> to hear what he says about that), is wearing a Red Bull hat and asks to hide his non-Ineos issue jacket logo from pictures. That\u2019s despite secretly being in the midst of sealing his move from Ineos Grenadiers to his new team, Q36.5<\/a> \u2013 the only other team where he could continue his relationship with bike supplier Pinarello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking after the needs of sponsors means ensuring that he is always being talked about. But that comes with its own complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018That\u2019s the media,\u2019 says the 25-year-old. \u2018They put you on a pedestal or they try and tear you down. There\u2019s not really a middle ground. There\u2019s no, \u201cHe\u2019s doing alright.\u201d You\u2019re either winning or you\u2019re the worst person in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Life is a rollercoaster<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pidcock hasn\u2019t experienced that more than in 2024. He had a consistent Classics<\/a> campaign, with eighth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, fourth at Strade Bianche, 11th at Milan-San Remo and 17th at his first pro level Paris-Roubaix before finally getting an Amstel Gold Race win after losing out to Wout van Aert in a controversial photo finish three years prior. He finished the spring with a tenth at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge and started the stage race season with sixth overall at the Tour de Suisse. But that\u2019s where the problems began.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tom
Juan Trujillo Andrades \/ Cyclist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Just a day before things got underway in Switzerland, Netflix released season two of its Tour de France: Unchained<\/em> <\/a>docuseries following teams behind the scenes at the previous year\u2019s Tour, and Pidcock didn\u2019t come across well<\/a>. He is captured saying, \u2018My opinion is the only one that matters.\u2019 He is resistant to supporting teammate Carlos Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s more promising GC campaign \u2013 even breaking the fourth wall to ask to turn the cameras off when discussing it \u2013 and unapologetically ignores team orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I was made out to be the fucking bad guy,\u2019 Pidcock tells Cyclist<\/em>. \u2018That actually created quite a lot of negative media around me, but you can go and ask any of my teammates \u2013 they all think I\u2019m a good guy. No one who wants to win is an angel.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fallout from the documentary was compounded by a disappointing Tour de France, where he missed out on a stage win in Troyes by a whisker before dropping out of the race ahead of Stage 14. That was the low point. Fast forward to the Olympics in Paris a month later and, back on his trusty mountain bike, Pidcock performed a miracle manoeuvre, coming back from a puncture to overtake leader and home favourite Victor Koretzky on the last lap to win his second MTB gold in a row amid a rousing chorus of French boos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That may have helped his public perception in Britain, but rumours of a potential departure from Ineos Grenadiers began to pick up. Things came to a head in the Italian Classics when, after coming second at Giro dell\u2019Emilia, he was unceremoniously dropped from the team\u2019s Lombardia line-up days before the race. And as we know now, that was that.<\/p>\n\n\n

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All that glitters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Cyclist<\/em> sits down with Pidcock he\u2019s in the middle of negotiating his exit from Ineos and is under strict instructions not to talk about the team. The closest he comes is saying, \u2018A few things didn\u2019t fall into place, obviously things have been difficult.\u2019 However he can<\/em> lift the lid on his personal struggles last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It had its ups and downs. It felt bloody long, that\u2019s for sure, but I think it was not bad,\u2019 says Pidcock. Although he admits even the good parts were more challenging than they appeared from the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tom
Juan Trujillo Andrades \/ Cyclist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u2018I didn\u2019t enjoy the pressure,\u2019 he says of the Olympics. \u2018I put too much on myself because it was what I wanted to do all year. And then the race, how it happened with the puncture, I didn\u2019t enjoy the race. It was a bit much \u2013 I\u2019ve never been so exhausted off the finish. Normally you finish a race, you\u2019re tired, you get your breath back and then you\u2019re fine. Your legs might hurt but whatever. But there, honestly, I was cooked. I was feeling sick waiting for the podium and leaned on this railing with my head down. I was just gone.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He even struggled to enjoy the result once he recovered: \u2018With big events like that it\u2019s always more relief than happiness because, to be honest, I was the favourite \u2013 all I could do was lose. I could meet expectations or lose. I should have just chilled out a bit. Sometimes I feel like I\u2019m not really bothered, so I wanted to hype myself up a little bit, but then I did it a bit much.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

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The good old days<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The life of Tom Pidcock hasn\u2019t always been so contentious, but it has always been about the bike. He was so young when he did his first wheelie that he can barely remember it, but Pidcock relishes talking about the early days \u2013 when there was no pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I used to ride to school every day on my BMX and go to the skate park. I also used to go with my brother, a neighbour and a friend to the park and see who could get the muddiest bike,\u2019 he says, although he insists that\u2019s not where his love for cyclocross began. \u2018I never had a cross bike; my first cross race I did on a mountain bike.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he was old enough (hint: it wasn\u2019t much later), racing came naturally. But despite coming from a cycling family, there was never any pressure to take it too seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tom
Juan Trujillo Andrades \/ Cyclist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u2018It\u2019s not their job to push me. It was if I wanted it, I wanted it. I never took it seriously. I would come home and eat half a packet of digestive biscuits, five oranges and a Twirl. That was my snack after school. If I ate like that now I\u2019d get dropped after about 30km in a race.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he moved up the ranks, winning at every level, he earned a name for himself as a 16-year-old racing against adults in the National Series crit races, showcasing his daredevil technical ability on a big stage for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The good old days, doing the tricks, that was good fun actually,\u2019 he says, admitting he\u2019s sat down to watch the highlights package Five Times Tom Pidcock Shocked The World Before He Was Famous<\/a><\/em> on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018That me would beat me now, I\u2019m pretty sure,\u2019 he says, and he\u2019s only half-joking. Despite appearances Pidcock is open about the fact he can\u2019t take risks like he used to. He talks about another viral appearance on YouTube, hurtling down a descent in America with Safa Brian<\/a> at what looks like breakneck speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Actually, we didn\u2019t send it that hard,\u2019 Pidcock says. \u2018We went fast to make it look good, but we weren\u2019t fully committed. If I was younger, I would\u2019ve gone, \u201cI\u2019m going to see how fast I can get,\u201d but now there\u2019s more to lose.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite that, his Instagram profile bio<\/a> includes the mantra \u2018You only live once\u2019, and he\u2019s clearly not done with the risk taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I think the threshold of impacting my quality of life or what I want to achieve in life, it goes higher up the risk scale than other people. I\u2019m not going to say, \u201cI\u2019m not going to do that because it\u2019s dangerous.\u201d That\u2019s what I like to do. I\u2019m a bit of a thrill seeker in that sense.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join the Q<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That might help to explain the real headline story. The star rider of Ineos Grenadiers, once the dominators of pro cycling<\/a>, has cut his contract short to move to Q36.5 Pro Cycling, a team who aren\u2019t in the WorldTour and rely on wildcard invitations to all the big races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, it\u2019s explained by a lack of options given the late notice in the transfer window and his big salary, as well as the team\u2019s connection to Pinarello (they\u2019re both owned by South African billionaire Ivan Glasenberg), with whom Pidcock has cultivated a personal relationship, helping to develop its Dogma XC mountain bike in the process. While he\u2019ll be riding Q36.5\u2019s official sponsor Scott\u2019s bikes on the road this season, he\u2019s sticking with Pinarello off-road.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tom
Juan Trujillo Andrades \/ Cyclist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s a risk, but in 2024 Q36.5 got invites to the cobbled Classics and they’ve got the call up to spring’s biggest races once again in 2025. And despite aiming to become a yellow jersey contender earlier in his career, Pidcock says his priority now is to win a Monument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I need to re-find my love for the Tour,\u2019 he says. \u2018The last two years have been difficult. Honestly, I didn\u2019t enjoy it that much, but that first year was incredible. The Tour is the biggest race in the world \u2013 stage wins change lives. But when you\u2019re getting your head kicked in it\u2019s not fun. Last year I started with an illness, came round, almost won a stage, more chances in the last week, got Covid, went home.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems, on reflection, Stage 9 at the 2024 Tour was a turning point. Had Pidcock just got the other side of Anthony Turgis in the final sprint, his season would have consisted of a big Classic, a Tour de France stage win and Olympic gold \u2013 and Pidcock happily admits that would have been a \u2018pretty good\u2019 year. A Tour win may have turned Ineos\u2019s season around too, but for the team of marginal gains, a marginal loss has led to a big one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pidcock won\u2019t look favourably on 2024, but this year provides a new start with a new team and new goals. It seems almost certain his biggest wins are yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tom
Juan Trujillo Andrades \/ Cyclist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Pidcock on\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n