Pidcock and Q36.5 shock WorldTour super teams at Vuelta a España to deliver only the third wild-card grand tour top 3 in 25 years: ‘This was always the dream.’
Pidcock and his teammates celebrate Sunday in Madrid. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Published September 17, 2025 06:33AM
Tom Pidcock and his breakout third place at the Vuelta a España are more than about proving the doubters wrong.
Stepping onto a grand tour podium as a wild-card invitee is almost unthinkable in today’s WorldTour packed with super teams boasting $50 million budgets.
Pidcock’s breakout third-place not only silenced the critics, it also delivered a rare wild-card podium that’s only happened twice in the past 25 years.
“I feel proud. I feel happy,” Pidcock said Sunday. “It’s probably the biggest achievement of my career so far. This third place feels like a win. But it also makes me believe I could fight for more in the future.”
Pidcock’s third is only the third time in 25 years that a wild-card invitee scored a grand tour podium.
Ezequiel Mosquera did it with Xacobeo-Galicia with second at the 2010 Vuelta, José Rujano pulled it off with third in the 2005 Giro for Colombia-Selle Italia.
Also read: Protesters canceled the final podium, so teams organized their own
Wild cards are usually there to animate breakaways, collect TV airtime to make local sponsors happy, and maybe grab a stage win if luck tilts their way.
No wild-card team has ever hit the final top three podium at the Tour de France in modern cycling.
Could that change in 2026 as Q36.5 chases the ultimate invitation to cycling’s biggest race?
After this Vuelta and the team’s recent spending spree on new talent, it might just happen.
‘Exceeding all our dreams’
Pidcock celebrates after teams improvised a final podium on Sunday after protesters blocked the streets of Madrid. (Photo: Filippo Barcatta/UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
What makes Q36.5’s podium milestone even more extraordinary in today’s super team era is how fast the team pulled it off.
Before this season, the Swiss-registered outfit had never even raced a three-week tour.
Everything changed with the mega-transfer arrival of Pidcock over the winter. With the two-time Olympic mountain bike gold medalist on board, the team earned invites to both the Giro and Vuelta.
General manager Doug Ryder said the podium raid was more than anyone expected when the team lined up in Torino to start the 80th Vuelta.
“Our goal was a top 10, our dream a top five, but a podium is exceeding all our dreams,” Ryder said after the Vuelta. “It’s still a bit surreal to have a rider on the team who now stands amongst the greats of cycling on a grand tour podium.”
Pidcock and the team defied expectations across the Vuelta. When Pidcock dug deep to ride into third at Valdezcaray behind the attacking Jonas Vingegaard, everyone dared to dream.
When he defended third at key summit finales at Angliru and El Morredero, those dreams turned into reality after a strong TT in Valladolid. The icing on the cake came on Bola del Mundo to close out the wild and protest-riddled Vuelta.
“It’s remarkable we are now one of the teams that have a rider who achieved that podium place after a grueling three weeks of intense racing,” Ryder said. “And all that in only our second grand tour since Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team started three years ago.”
Ryder’s big bet on Pidcock paid off faster than anyone could have hoped.
Sweet redemption: ‘An unattainable dream’
Pidcock’s arrival energized the entire team. (Photo: DAVID PINTENS / Belga / AFP) / Belgium OUT)
For Ryder, the Vuelta podium is sweet payback for the South African team manager.
After nearly 15 years in the peloton, his Qhubeka team folded in 2021 without a sponsor, and he lost his hard-fought spot in the WorldTour.
Two years later, he regrouped with Q36.5 in 2023. After rebuilding the infrastructure from the ground up in the peloton’s ProTeam second-tier level, he scored a blockbuster deal last winter to sign Pidcock for 2025.
What a difference one rider can make.
That transfer immediately bolted the team into the headlines and created new buzz around the organization. Backed with new sponsors and more financial muscle, the team came into 2025 packing big ambitions.
Also read: How Pidcock will balance off-road fun with road racing
Pidcock lit up the spring, winning his first GC title at the AlUla Tour and then taking it straight to Tadej Pogačar at Strade Bianche.
An underwhelming Giro, however, where Pidcock started a bit overcooked, saw him leave with no stage wins and out of the top 10 in 16th.
That gave critics fresh oxygen, but Pidcock proved the critics wrong and proved Ryder right.
“This has always been a dream in all the teams we have run throughout the years and for many years it seemed an unattainable dream,” Ryder said. “This achievement by Tom has lifted the entire team. With the right people, the right environment and the right culture you can attract the best of the best, on and off the bike. That makes me very proud of this team and everyone involved.”
Q36.5 builds out 2026 for ultimate Tour invite
Pidcock and Q36.5 delivered a rare wild-card podium. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
The project is being reloaded for 2026, and it’s obvious that Q36.5 is chasing cycling’s ultimate invite for the Tour de France.
The team’s already announced eight new riders for 2026 as the team looks to strengthen its stage racing core and bolster one-day firepower.
Eddie Dunbar, a proven Giro top-10 rider, and grand-tour stage-winner Chris Harper both arrive from Jayco AlUla. Fred Wright comes across from Bahrain Victorious to add classics power, and Xandro Meurisse and Quinten Hermans join from Alpecin-Deceuninck for hilly terrain.
Aimé De Gendt (Cofidis) and Brent Van Moer (Lotto) bring attacking depth, while Thomas Gloag (Visma-Lease a Bike) packs watts for the mountains.
With a more confident Pidcock and backed by an even deeper team, Q36.5 will be in the front row when ASO hands out one of the treasured wild-card invitations for the 2026 Tour de France.
Depending on how the WorldTour licenses shake out going into 2026, Q36.5 should be in with very good chances to earn a Tour bid.
A Tour podium would be cycling’s ultimate underdog story. No wild-card team has ever hit the Tour podium in modern cycling history.