Tom Pidcock and his Pinarello-Q36.5 teammates took a highway much less travelled to organize for his or her spring objectives, heading to altitude in Chile in January earlier than a block of early-season racing in Spain.
Pidcock and his coaches hope the mixture of altitude coaching, intense racing and additional high quality coaching will give him a peak of kind that may span from Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad till the Ardennes, with Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the Volta a Catalunya in between.
The Tour de France is Pidcock’s second main purpose of 2026, with any GC hopes constructed on the again of stage victories and having fun with the problem, simply as he did to complete third general on the Vuelta a España.
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Altitude within the Andes
Whereas some riders have been compelled to grind out hours on the indoor coach because of a moist and depressing European winter or after being blocked by heavy snowfalls on the Sierra Nevada, the largest considerations for Pidcock and his teammates in Chile have been the warmth within the valley, a relentless want for solar display and big condors circling above their heads.
Pidcock, Fred Wright, Thomas Gloag, Xandro Meurisse, Fabio Christen, Brent Van Moer and Quinten Hermans spent 25 days within the Andes mountains, staying at 2,780 metres above sea stage within the La Parva ski resort above the capital Santiago.
Chile is within the southern hemisphere and so the riders loved the winter heat at any time when they descended from La Parva. They stayed in flats and bonded post-training, having enjoyable, whereas working exhausting.
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Chile is a 12-hour flight from Europe however there’s solely a four-hour time distinction, limiting the influence of jet lag. The Pinarello-Q36.5 staff invested within the camp, reportedly paying for enterprise class flights for the riders who opted to attend. Norwegian altitude specialist and coach Bent Rønnestad is the part-time head of train physiology at Pinarello-Q36.5 and the riders had eight staff workers to take care of them, together with a nutritionist.
Bogearts joined his riders for 2 weeks in Chile. The roads weren’t at all times clean however the riders did a number of blocks of coaching, together with rides over 200km and 4,000 metres of altitude achieve.
„A pre-season is about excess of the altitude coaching,“ Bogaerts explains to Cyclingnews, going past the essential coaching information and skinny air advantages.
„The primary cause we went to Chile was to journey in good climate and be collectively. Some guys can deal with coaching loads on the turbo coach at house or at altitude however I believe it is exhausting mentally, I am not a giant fan of that. Mount Teide is commonly booked up and so the riders have been open to a brand new journey.
„We requested numerous totally different individuals about Chile and it proved to be a pleasant journey. We’d go to Colombia or Ecuador subsequent time to maintain the January camp attention-grabbing.
„Health is one thing you construct on by means of the season and you place your first basis down early on. We then construct on the altitude camp throughout the early races, keep it by warmth coaching, utilizing a hypoxic tent or by dwelling at altitude like riders do in Andorra.
„You’re fitter after an altitude camp, so you’ll be able to prepare extra and do higher high quality work at sea stage. It is good when every little thing comes collectively and is at all times well worth the effort, like every little thing in biking.“
Important early-season racing in Spain
Pidcock and his teammates returned to Europe on February 5, with the Briton making his season debut per week later on the Vuelta a la Región de Murcia after which testing his gravel abilities on the Clásica Jaén. Fred Wright is focusing on the cobbled Classics and has a much more intense late March and so made his season debut alongside Pidcock eventually week’s Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol.
Pidcock had kind to win each of his early one-day races however was stunned by the decisive assaults. An identical miss-judgment value him a shot at general victory in Andalucia however he impressed on Sunday when he attacked alone on the final climb to win the ultimate hilly stage to Lucena.
“It feels nice,“ Pidcock stated of his first win of 2026.
„I used to be getting actually pissed off, we educated so exhausting this winter. We made a giant dedication, we went to Chile. We put in a lot work and we missed alternatives right here. We let the GC go in the future and I used to be getting pissed off that we wasted alternatives. However we took it. The staff was nice and I completed it off. Then it makes all of it worthwhile.“
Pidcock will head to Belgium later this week with 25 days of altitude coaching and 7 days of aggressive early-season racing in his legs. Wout van Aert will arrive in Belgium immediately from Visma-Lease a Bike’s altitude camp at Sierra Nevada, whereas Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) raced and received two phases on the Volta ao Algarve. Tim Wellens additionally raced in Spain and can lead UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG, with Tadej Pogačar solely making his season debut the week after at Strade Bianche.
The early-season racing in Spain was thought-about very important for Pidcock.
„Altitude coaching is nice however you continue to must have your racing legs,“ Bogaerts suggests, dipping into his old-school biking upbringing in Belgium, that included years of working with Sean Kelly on the An Publish–Chain Response staff.
„Individuals who prepare at sea stage can have doubtlessly higher race legs within the quick time period, whereas altitude coaching contains numerous climbing and each day rides again as much as the altitude location. Tom raced in Spain to assist polish his kind and get again into racing along with his teammates.
„He had good legs in Murcia, Jaén and Ruta. I believe we might have received extra races. Now we have 10 new riders within the staff for 2026 and so it was additionally about studying to race collectively.“
Elevating Pinarello-Q36.5 to larger objectives and giving 100%
Pidcock elevated the standard and the ambitions of the Pinarello-Q36.5 staff in 2025 and the arrival of the Italian bike model as a title sponsor and computerized wild card invites to all of the 2026 WorldTour races, together with their first Tour de France.
New signings embrace Wright and fellow Briton Gloag, who impressed on the hilltop finishes on the Volta ao Algarve. Aimé De Gendt, Quinten Hermans, Brent Van Moer and Xandro Meurisse all enhance the Classics roster and staff core, whereas Australian Chris Harper has loads of Grand Tour expertise. Eddie Dunbar additionally joined from Jayco-AlUla and is prone to lead the staff’s hopes within the Giro d’Italia. Sam Bennett was signed as a sprinter however his debut was delayed by a latest coronary heart concern and coronary heart ablation surgical procedure.
„Everybody talks loads about Tom, however I believe now we have greater than Tom now,“ Bogaerts says of the 2026 Pinarello-Q36.5 roster he rigorously constructed with staff supervisor Doug Ryder and the opposite staff workers.
„Tom is a giant identify and lifts the staff however he additionally likes to be linked with this staff and he feels answerable for this staff. We anticipate another guys to stand up and be vital elements of this staff in the long run.“
Gloag can be given time to rebuild his profession after his horrible knee harm, however Bogaerts highlights Fabio Christen as a rider to observe, whereas Wright is taken into account instead staff chief to Pidcock within the Classics. Bogaerts has labored with the Londonder since he was teenager travelling to race in Belgium.
Bogaerts has additionally recognized Pidcock since he started to race cyclo-cross as a boy in Belgium. He labored with him at Workforce Wiggins in 2018 and 2019 as Pidcock emerged as probably the greatest riders of his era. They each joined Ineos Grenadiers and Bogaerts left with Pidcock to maneuver to Q36.5 after his divorce with the British WorldTour staff.
Bogaerts has seen the nice occasions and quietly and loyally labored by means of the unhealthy occasions alongside Pidcock.
„Tom’s profession has developed in numerous phases, together with his mountain bike success on the Olympics and cyclo-cross success,“ Bogaerts factors out.
„Now he is extra targeted on highway racing however I believe he is in place, the place he can construct on all of it. Now we have to recollect he is solely 26 however in fact he is altering as he develops and matures.“
Bogaerts is softly spoken and affected person, whereas Pidcock will be direct and speaks from the center.
„He will be confrontational however at the very least you realize what you are coping with,“ Boagerts says.
„He is fairly clear about what he needs however he admits it when he makes errors too. He is like a knife with two sides however he is not a bullshitter.
„I believe we worth one another’s work. I like to present 100%, however then in fact I anticipate the opposite individual to present 100%. When that occurs you’ll be able to obtain superb outcomes. That is how we’re working for this spring: at 100%, from the altitude camp to the Ardennes and every little thing in between.“
