After an tumultuous relationship with the Tour de France, Tom Pidcock has said he “wasn’t exactly excited” to hear his team, Pinarello-Q36.5, will be at the race this year, but he will go with the aim of enjoying himself.
The 26-year-old won a stage on Alpe d’Huez on his Tour debut in 2022, but turned to target the general classification with Ineos Grenadiers in the subsequent two years, which he “didn’t really enjoy”, he said at the end of 2024.
Now, in an interview with The Observer, Pidcock made clear he needs to “refind that excitement for the Tour”.
“There’s such high pressure and expectations from external people, but also internally, from teams. In our team, I think it will be different,” he said.
“My main goal is to go there and have fun and enjoy it and I think that will bring success. Obviously, we’re going to have to train our balls off.”
Last season, his first season with Q36.5, the Brit put in a career-best Grand Tour performance when he finished third at the Vuelta a España. His best result at the Tour came in 2023, when he finished 13th.
“When you’re competing just to stay in the top 10, I struggle to find the motivation to do that and have to battle [with] that for three weeks. It’s just draining,” he told The Observer.
“I think if we can go and enjoy the stress of the Tour, then that will help change my mindset back to how it should be.
“[The Tour] is the biggest race in the world. It’s the race that inspired me when I was young. It’s inspiring probably millions of other kids, but to race, it’s not the most enjoyable. Hopefully we can change that.”
Pidcock missed the Tour last season due to the fact Q36.5 did not receive an invite. The team qualified their place for the 2026 edition as one of the top-two-ranked ProTeams, a status that gives them automatic invites to all three Grand Tours.
“I think it’s a massive opportunity,” Pidcock said in a team press release last month. “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."
The Olympic mountain bike champion opens his road season on Friday at the two-stage Vuelta a la Región de Murcia. He will then race a full Classics campaign, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before heading to Barcelona for the start of the Tour on 4 July.
