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Reports that Tom Pidcock will be leaving Ineos Grenadiers to join Team Q36.5 became the wildest revolution of the transfer rumor-mill Friday.
Veteran journos Daniel Friebe and Ciro Scognamiglio of The Cycling Podcast and La Gazzetta dello Sport set tongues wagging that the Brit superstar could be switching to the rising second-division outfit as early as this winter.
If true, it would be one of the most unexpected rider transfers of the decade.
“Sources confirm to us that Q36.5 is interested in signing Tom Pidcock for 2024. ‘It’s possible,’ a source close to the Swiss team told us. Talks ongoing at this stage,” Gazzetta’s reporter Scognamiglio wrote Friday on Twitter / X.
Think it sounds totally off-beat?
There is some weight behind the chatter.
“We’re not able to confirm or deny at this point,” a Team Q36.5 representative told Velo on Friday.
Pidcock has been at the center of the annual carnival of contract speculations this summer.
The 25-year-old two-time Olympic MTB champ was initially linked to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert were also reported to be making the switch to the budding “super team” of Primož Roglič.
Visma-Lease a Bike was quick to hand Van Aert an “eternal contract” in response. Meanwhile, Evenepoel vowed he’s staying with his Quick-Step “Wolf Pack.”
A short break from the usual programming for some light transfer speculation: Q36.5 are interested in signing Tom Pidcock from INEOS. I’m told a deal could happen but is only one of three or four possible scenarios, obviously including him staying. Nothing imminent. At ease.
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) October 4, 2024
Pidcock’s future remains unknown.
He’s signed with Ineos Grenadiers through 2027 and at the center of its plans to return to the top of the Tour de France.
But all is not rosy at the British former bulldozer right now.
Sources at Ineos Grenadiers would not comment on the speculation over Pidcock’s future to Velo. Pidcock’s management agency was also contacted but is yet to reply.
Pidcock problems at Ineos Grenadiers?
This latest churn of the rumor mill Friday arrives off the back of ongoing reports of widespread discontent at Ineos Grenadiers.
Once the owner of the Tour de France, the sickly giant is now way off the pace of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, and their UAE Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike “super teams.”
Several top climbers left Ineos Grenadiers in 2023, as did mastermind staffer Rod Ellingworth. Team performance guru Dan Bigham also took the exit door this summer citing a malfunctioning management structure.
The downturn at Ineos Grenadiers was hard to ignore in 2024.
The team of Pidcock, Geraint Thomas, Filippo Ganna, Egan Bernal, and Co. is suffering its worst season since Team Sky was formed in 2010.
“That winning attitude is so hard to get, and it’s so easy to lose. I wouldn’t say we lost it completely, it’s waning,” said team talisman Thomas in a recent episode of his “Watts Occurring” podcast. “It’s going to be hard to get that back.”
Reports through the summer of a rift between Pidcock and lead DS Steve Cummings suggest the team’s malaise runs deep.
Q36.5 and the Pinarello factor
Why would yellow jersey dreamer Pidcock choose Q36.5, the minnow team of former Team Qhebeka manager Doug Ryder?
The Swiss-based outfit races at the ProTeam level, but is pushing for top-tier promotion with its ambitious underdog squad of ex-WorldTour riders and rising new talents.
Q36.5 is currently the sixth-highest second-division team in the UCI rankings.
Nonetheless, it’s still only a sprint away from a WorldTour promotion or top-ranked WorldTeam spot by the end of the 2023-2025 points cycle.
The potential prize at the end of the UCI’s three-year league? Guaranteed Tour de France selection.
Ties between the Q36.5 team and the Pinarello bike brand that Pidcock uses across MTB, CX, and road racing could be a crux in any potential contract negotiations.
The Italian bike brand that partners Ineos Grenadiers was sold early last year to a “private family office.” It’s widely suggested that the well-monied new owner of the bike manufacturer is former Glencore CEO and Q36.5 investor Ivan Glasenberg.
Pidcock is closely tied to Pinarello. He even helped the brand develop the Dogma XC bike he rode to the MTB cross country world title in 2023.
The uber-talent Brit would make the ultimate crown atop Glasenberg’s Pinarello-Q36.5 empire.
Pidcock, Pinarello, and the Tour de France
Will Pidcock make the wild leap from Ineos Grenadiers to Q36.5 in 2025?
It’s hard to see it.
It would put his Tour de France ambition into the hands of the ASO wildcard system.
Further to that, Q36.5 has raced on Scott bikes since it formed in 2023. Team sources confirmed it will continue to use the Swiss-based brand in 2025.
How about a transfer at the end of 2025?
It might take a Tour de France-bound, Pinarello-riding Team Q36.5 team to make it happen.
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