Tom Pidcock will not be racing the Tour de France this year, according to a BBC Sport interview with the Q36.5 rider.
The winner of the Alpe d’Huez stage in his first-ever Tour de France back in 2022, since then Pidcock has raced cycling’s top event twice.
He finished 16th overall in 2023 and abandoned with COVID-19 in 2024, his best result a second place on a stage featuring gravel roads in the first week.
If 2025 will see Pidcock miss the Tour de France for the first time in four years, he promised that he will attempt to form part of the Tour in eighteen months and added he expected the break would allow him to tackle the race with heightened enthusiasm.
“We’ll have a year out from the Tour and try to get to the Tour 2026,” Pidcock told BBC Sport on Sunday.
“I’m happy I’ve got a year out from it… a break. When I come back it’ll be with a refreshed energy.”
Having quit British WorldTour squad Ineos Grenadiers at the end of 2024, Pidcock subsequently joined Q36.5 and is set to make his debut in the five-stage AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia on January 28.
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However, as part of the ProTeam league, Q36.5 is dependent on invitations from the Tour and other top events to be able to take part in the biggest races in the sport.
Pidcock told the BBC he was hoping that he would be able to focus on one-day races in 2025. In his career so far, his biggest one-day road race wins were in Amstel Gold in 2024 and Strade Bianche back in 2023, and he also secured a runner’s up spot in the 2023 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège – Britain’s best-ever finish in the Ardennes Monument.
“We don’t have full control over the calendar – have to get invited [to races],” added Pidcock in his BBC interview.
“But in theory, we should have all the races that I want to do.”
Beyond the AIUIa Tour, nothing has yet been revealed regarding Pidcock’s race program for 2025. None of the three Grand Tours have yet published their wildcard team choices for this season, either.
But the late signing of a top-level name like Pidcock to Q36.5 is widely expected to boost their prospects of invites to multiple high-profile WorldTour stage races and one-day races.
Pidcock and his team are currently training in Calpe, Spain. Earlier this weekend, the squad revealed its 2025 kit, with Pidcock featuring alongside his teammates in the promotional campaign.
