![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tom-pidcock-699472ebe4d63.jpg@webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Chile, we were laughing while watching the snow and rain in Europe,\u201d Wright said. \u201cBut those guys were laughing at us on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chile factor<\/p>\n
Pidcock and a small group of teammates had opted for an altitude camp in Chile at the start of the year, trading winter miles in Spain for warmer temperatures and high elevation stimulus. The early signs were promising. Pidcock finished second at Cl\u00e1sica Ja\u00e9n and then won the final stage of Andalucia on his way to third overall.<\/p>\n
Belgium was a different shock entirely. \u201cI really suffered in the cold,\u201d Wright admitted of Omloop. \u201cNormally, I\u2019m pretty good in those conditions, because I\u2019ve always trained through the winter in recent years. But in Omloop it was genuinely grim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pidcock himself described a \u201cbeginner\u2019s mistake\u201d with clothing and dealt with a mechanical and bike change once the race had already begun to split. By the time the key selections formed, he was on the back foot, and there was no way back into contention.<\/p>\n
For Wright, the issue was less about form and more about adaptation. \u201cThe effect of the altitude camp is really good, because I feel great in training,\u201d he said. \u201cAn altitude camp ahead of the classics is really nice in that sense, because it means you\u2019re strong in the races you actually want to be strong in.\u201d<\/p>\n
That last line is telling.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pidcock has had success in early 2026<\/p>\n
Bigger targets ahead<\/p>\n
Opening Weekend matters, but it is not the sole axis around which Pidcock\u2019s spring turns. Strade Bianche and Milano\u2013Sanremo loom larger in his programme, with the Ardennes to follow. His early-season results in Spain suggested the engine is there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a guy like Tom, you love riding on the front when he does things like he did on the final day of Ruta del Sol,\u201d Wright said with a grin. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright also pointed to a shift that is less visible on the results sheet. \u201cI don\u2019t think the altitude camp itself was all that different in pure training terms \u2014 but mentally it was refreshing to do something completely new,\u201d he said. \u201cPhysically we\u2019ve taken a step, but mentally as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sense of renewal echoes the broader narrative around Q36.5 this season. Pidcock\u2019s move has placed him at the centre of the project, and the team\u2019s approach appears built around freedom rather than constraint.<\/p>\n
Wright was explicit about the draw. \u201cTom was one of the main reasons for me to come to this team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re racing again like we used to \u2014 without stress. That\u2019s what we want to do all year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opening Weekend, then, may prove less a verdict and more a temperature check, literally. The bodies that adapted to altitude and the Spanish sun must now readjust to northern Europe in February.<\/p>\n
If the Chile block delivers where it is meant to on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche or on the Via Roma in San Remo, the memory of being laughed at in Flanders will fade quickly.<\/p>\n
For Pidcock, the spring narrative is still being written.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIn Chile, we were laughing while watching the snow and rain in Europe,\u201d Wright said. \u201cBut those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,60921,254989,231522,244452,85,63570],"class_list":["post-518457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-fred-wright","tag-kuurne-bruxelles-kuurne","tag-omloop-het-nieuwsblad","tag-pinarello-q36-5-pro-cycling-team","tag-sports","tag-tom-pidcock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}