Tom Pidcock opens up on departure from Ineos Grenadiers: 'Things weren't going how I imagined it'

Tom Pidcock has suggested that changes in Ineos Grenadiers’s management was the principal factor behind him ending his contract early to join Q36.5.

The Briton has stepped down from the WorldTour to the second tier in the winter’s biggest transfer move, ending months of speculation over his future.

Pidcock, 25, is no longer guaranteed to ride the biggest races such as the Tour de France, with Q36.5 dependent on wildcard entries from race organisers.

But the relationship with Ineos had deteriorated to the point that the Yorkshireman had to seek a way out.

“Why did it end the way it did?” Pidcock said at his new team’s annual media day in Calpe, Spain. “To be perfectly honest, I’m struggling to give an answer to that question because I’ve actually moved on.

“That team was my second family. I have great memories there, but it was time to change, and I accepted that a long time ago. That’s not a scripted answer – I’m just very good at putting things behind me and moving on.”

Expanding on the reasons, he said: “I think things were just not going how it was originally envisaged at Ineos, how I imagined it, and the mutual solution to end the contract was the best.

“There wasn’t a specific moment, it was gradual. It was going on for a while and it was no secret that last year was difficult for me, and also for Ineos I guess. “

Pidcock, who has won two Olympics mountain bike golds, signed a new five-year contract with Ineos in the spring of 2022 to in theory take him up until the end of the 2027 season. He cut short the agreement by three seasons.

Long-term deals have become increasingly common within cycling, and asked whether that development is a good thing given his own recent experience, he said that changes in personnel at Ineos drove his decision to leave. Sir Dave Brailsford is no longer the team’s head, with John Allert the man in charge.

“Ineos is a fantastic team, they have their own motivations and their goals and how they want to achieve things,” he said. “At the end of the day, what happened with me was business – it was nothing personal.

“I signed my contract with different people who run the team now and that did create some difficulties, from what I imagined it was going to be like to what happened. But they still gave me every support.”

Teams poaching riders from other teams has historically been a rare occurrence within cycling, but it has happened with greater frequency in the past few winters. Does Pidcock think the sport should adopt a football-style model of transfers?

“I’ve not put enough thought into it to give a proper answer, but for sure some contracts are crazy long, especially for new, young riders,” he said.

“If teams miss out and by coincidence don’t pick the right rider and all the other talent is looked up for five or six or goodness knows how many years, it could kill a team. It is an issue, riders signing long contracts and not necessarily being happy and being stuck.”

Nevertheless, Pidcock has now moved on and though his new employers are a step down in division, he is confident that he can start tasting more success on the road.

“From my heart, from the first meeting, I decided I was coming here,” he said. “My head was debating for a long time, but the thing about here is the belief in me, that shared vision of success and freedom and being able to race my bike.

“It was 100% the right decision. People in this team are the smartest people in their field I’ve ever worked in. It’s a lower division team, but it doesn’t mean it’s sub-par to other teams.”

Pidcock and Q36.5 hope that they’ll receive entries to both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, with the team’s new leader believing that he could one day challenge for the top places in a Grand Tour

“I haven’t envisioned myself winning a Grand Tour yet, but I think I can get a podium,” he said. “I want to build up to that step, and the way I’ve built up before is by going to races I’ve wanted to go to, enjoying them and that’s what we’re going to do here.”