![\"Q36.5\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Vuelta-Espana---Stage-11---Harry-Talbot-0496-2.jpg\")
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News & Racing<\/a><\/p>\n Tom Pidcock might have four years of WorldTeam experience, but he and Q36.5 have punched above their weight at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n Gruber Images, Cor Vos<\/p>\n Tom Pidcock has done a great deal of developing throughout the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. To call it a \u2018coming-of-age\u2019 event would be to discredit several years of top-tier results, including a Tour de France stage win on Alpe d\u2019Huez, but his exploits at his sixth Grand Tour have described a transition for the young Brit.<\/p>\n In fact, what we\u2019ve witnessed of Pidcock this past month has in a way validated the ProTeam\u2019s amusing styling of their riders as \u2018research scientists\u2019; Q36.5 has built a team around a singular goal (and person), and actively learning from their findings has delivered in spades. The experiment has worked.<\/p>\n Rarely was that more clear than on stage 20<\/a>, the final GC showdown that culminated at altitude about 70 km north of Madrid. The 39 seconds that separated Pidcock and Jai Hindley going in made the Australian, already a Grand Tour winner, a major threat to Pidcock\u2019s podium spot, but despite several nervous moments on the super-steep gradients of the Bola del Mundo, the Brit was never distanced by more than a few bike lengths, and in the end he only lost a handful of seconds to his rival in the final kick to the line.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t really know what to say, to be honest, I\u2019m pretty proud of myself. I think it\u2019s definitely the biggest performance of my career,\u201d Pidcock told TNT<\/a> after securing third overall on stage 20. \u201cIt\u2019s maybe not my biggest single win, I think some have been more special, but \u2013 I\u2019m a bit exhausted actually, to be honest, so I can\u2019t really find any words.\u201d<\/p>\n Pidcock has seemed to get stronger throughout the three-week race with some of his best performances coming in the last few days. He took a few seconds on stage 17\u2019s summit finish, then delivered maybe the time trial of his life a day later. A relatively easy flat stage 19 then set him up perfectly for the weekend and what he described as essentially \u201ca one-day race\u201d to the steep finale.<\/p>\n \u201cThis morning I was super up for today,\u201d Pidcock said after stage 20. \u201cIt’s just really hard to find a rhythm on such steep climbs, and with that surface as well, but I knew I was still in control. I didn’t want to go over my limit, all I had to do was, you know, stay within that and not blow.\u201d<\/p>\n And now there\u2019s just one day left; it\u2019s time to celebrate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the best thing is that now I can just relax, you know. Day after day you\u2019re so focussed, focussing on everything and making sure you’re switched on for the race every day. Now I’m enjoying that I can just sit here, I don\u2019t need to put this bloody jacket on, and drink cherry juice and have a disgusting recovery shake.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty to celebrate for Q36.5 just nine months into the Pidcock Project.<\/p>\n The GC Experiment<\/p>\n Pidcock signed with Q36.5 Pro Cycling team in December 2024, finalising a storied breakup with the Ineos Grenadiers<\/a> team with which he\u2019d launched his road cycling career in 2020. The step down a level to ProTour meant that the calendar might look slightly different, but for Tom, little would change, he\u2019d still race many of his favourite events like Strade Bianche<\/a> and the Ardennes Classics, and while the Tour de France would remain out of reach for likely a year or two, Pidcock\u2019s very presence on the team put them front and centre in the battle for Grand Tour wildcards.<\/p>\n And most importantly, Pidcock was king.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tom Pidcock is Q36.5\u2019s ticket to the big time<\/p>\n In an exclusive interview, team boss Doug Ryder explains how Q36.5 convinced Pidcock to come aboard and what it means for the second-division squad.<\/p>\n The experiment got its first phase underway at the AlUla Tour, and it started well. Pidcock won two stages and the overall<\/a>, with fast man Matteo Moschetti taking the closing day\u2019s sprint in stellar company that included Dylan Groenewegen and Alexander Kristoff \u2013 a rising tide lifts all boats.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Kit](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/profile-pic-KN-150x150.jpg\")
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Pidcock hung on admirably on the demanding upper slopes of the Bola del Mundo.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CORVOS_00037472-002.jpg\")
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