No Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders for Tom Pidcock as he confirms spring calendar

Tom Pidcock will ride seven major Classics and two small stage races this spring for Q36.5 Pro Cycling, it was announced on Wednesday.

Posting on Instagram, Pidcock confirmed that his next competitive outing will be the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol which starts on 19 February. He will then ride Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as part of the traditional Opening Weekend in Belgium before then lining up at Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo in March.

The 25-year-old won Strade Bianche in 2023 and has the profile of someone who could contend at Milan-San Remo, an all-rounder.

Pidcock also made a surprise appearance at last April’s Paris-Roubaix but will not make a return to the cobbles this time out, with no Tour of Flanders on his schedule either. His Q36.5 team have been invited to both.

The Yorkshireman will compete in the Ardennes Classics at the end of April and return to De Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel Gold Race, two races he won during his time at Ineos Grenadiers. He will then wrap up his spring campaign with La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège on 23 and 27 April.

Pidcock’s move from Ineos to Q36.5 was the most talked about transfer of the off-season. Competing in his new team’s colours for the first time, the Yorkshireman won two individual stages and the overall classification at the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia.

After his victory in the desert, Pidcock heaped praise on his new teammates and the togetherness they had shown as a group in order to seal the win.

"Someone told me the expression that fits is 'a rising tide lifts all boats'," he wrote on Instagram. "This team is the rising tide and everyone involved has lifted their game. I could not be more proud of the boys and the whole team right now! Excited for what’s to come."

The victory marked Pidcock's first-ever GC win as a professional.

"I didn't know any of these guys until December, and some of them I only met in January, so what we already do together and how we do it is incredible actually," he said in a post-race interview. "As an U23, I could do this, but it's taken me a while as an elite. To be honest, it's a big step in my career.

"The concentration it takes at this level to defend a lead every day, and this isn't a WorldTour race; it's only five days, I definitely realise how hard it is, but I think it's a big step."