'He lifts the team' – The Tom Pidcock effect at Q36.5 Pro Cycling

It's not every day that an Olympic champion, Tour de France stage winner and Classics specialist, in the prime of his career, makes a surprise move out of the WorldTour and into a barely two-year-old ProTeam. But that's exactly what Tom Pidcock did with his late move to Q36.5 Pro Cycling last winter.

Fast forward to April, and the surprising move is proving extremely successful for team and rider alike. The team have won seven times so far in 2025 – four of those being Pidcock victories – already surpassing their 2024 tally, and easily their best season start since Doug Ryder re-founded the team in 2023.

Clearly back towards his best level, Pidcock is thriving at Q36.5, rediscovering the ability he's always had latterly but struggled to demonstrate in the Ineos Grenadiers environment. So it's easy to see what impact the new team has had on the Brit, but what about vice versa? How does signing a rider like Pidcock transform things at Q36.5?

"In general it brings us a step forward," team sports director Jens Zemke told Cyclingnews ahead of Gent-Wevelgem.

"Tom also brought his coach Kurt Bogaerts on board, so the complete knowledge and infrastructure. So there's also the motivational part, he lifts the team. Every screw we turn. We see there and there we have potential. It started from the winter already on and from the training camp and goal setting and the races."

The fact that their win tally is up but Pidcock has only been responsible for just over half of those is evidence that the whole team is improving, thanks to things like the input of former WorldTour coach Bogaerts. Matteo Moschetti is finding some of his best form, and Fabio Christen took a long-awaited first pro win. 

"For the moment we are really happy with how the season develops," Zemke said. "From week to week we have somebody up in the game, and I think also the outside world is realising that this team is on a good way."

What the team want the world to remember, though, is that this change is not just because of Pidcock. Though only born in their current form in 2023, the team is the project of Doug Ryder, who has been managing cycling teams for years, so they already started on a high level. Pidcock has perhaps accelerated progress, but it's a path they were already on.

"It's a big milestone to bring Tom on board, but I think this [path] will continue," Zemke said. "Our curve is going uphill. Also the people we bring on board. We have very good staff, the infrastructure is like WorldTour."

It's the same view from riders within the team, who have been part of the outfit's upward trajectory and professional development since before Pidcock's arrival. 

"I suppose [it's different]," Rory Townsend, who signed for the team in 2024, told Cyclingnews.

"Obviously from one side is the attention the team gets, it's obviously a little bit different now. Tom has a lot of drive and brings a lot in that way, like just trying to improve things in and around the team. 

"But to be honest, we were already doing things at a really high level. Maybe starting the way the team did, quite late a couple of years ago, it meant that perhaps we didn't have the riders in necessarily that they wanted or this and that, but actually from inside the team they're doing things in a really, really good way. 

"They're a super professional outfit, compared to anything that I've been involved in, so I think actually it was a really nice fit for Tom. For some people, I'm sure they were a bit surprised when he came here, but being on the inside I wasn't surprised."

When Pidcock isn't there

With Pidcock being such a clear lift for the team – he puts their name at the top of the favourites list in any race they start, he garners more attention than any other rider – there is a question of how they can fare without him. Is there a dip, is his absence felt?

In some ways, obviously yes, but there are also other reasons why the team may be a little quiet in the coming races, with other rider absences affecting their ability to be competitive.

"If we bring the perfect line-up here with Tom, with [Frederik] Frison, with [Nickolas] Zukowsky then we would play a bit different role than now, driving car 23," Zemke said about the team's presence in the Belgian Classics. "The thing where we really struggle at the moment is a lot of riders which are not able to race at the moment due to sickness or long-term injuries.

"We know that from the Classics riders, we are struggling. With Frederik Frison not here, also Tom focusing on the Ardennes Classics, that means that our team is relatively limited."

What that means in practice is that instead of contending for the win with Pidcock, or Frison, Q36.5 readjust to much more humble goals when they start big races without their big stars. In Belgium, for example, their hope for E3 for a "top 15 or top 20", while a DNF for Giacomo Nizzolo in Gent-Wevelgem

"And the other races, we have to do the best we can," Zemke said of the Classics still to come this week.

Even when Pidcock isn't actually there, though, his name being attached to the team, and the trajectory they've been on, means they are getting invited to bigger races, so riders are having to step up with their programmes, which is certainly a challenge.

"Even from last year to this year with the team, I'm doing a lot more of the bigger races now," Townsend added. "It was nice last year to go and do a bit of racing in France to start to break it up a bit, but this year is pretty full on with the Classics period. Racing all of the races like I do now, it's quite intense but you just have to see it as an opportunity more than anything else."

However, the Irishman was keen to say that, day to day and race to race, having a rider like Pidcock on the team does not necessarily influence how he races, or the level of motivation he has.

"I just focus on what I need to do and my role," he said. "If I get the opportunity to work with Tom a little bit then it's nice. Even just having a guy on the team who I've raced with growing up is also nice. That's kind of the nice element for me."

The next step up

Pidcock has definitely taken the team a step further in 2025, but there's very much still space to grow, gaps to fill, and achievements to tick off for Q36.5 – this is not their final form.

The next "milestone", Zemke said on Sunday, would be an invitation to the Giro d'Italia, and on Monday it was confirmed that Q36.5 were one of the wildcard picks for the May Grand Tour.

What Zemke was keen to underline, however, was that even if they didn't have a rider like Pidcock on their books, the team would still have the credentials to argue for a wildcard invitation in 2025.

"We are in the third year now, third year that this team is existing, and I think we also deserve a spot in a Grand Tour. Because we are always in the world ranking around 23, and if you look who's getting all these wildcards, then we are the only team in this ranking that's never received a wildcard. So it would be essential for us, also for the sponsors, for the future of our team."

That said, he was confident that the team, in part thanks to Pidcock, should be expected to be a real animator when they head to their first Grand Tour in May, even with minimal preparation.

"You saw in Strade, we as a small team were challenging Pogačar, we made the race interesting. And the same could be in the Giro for example, that we are not team 23, that we are playing a major role," he added. 

Pidcock is back in training at hime in Andorra after a post-Milan-San Remo break and a cold. He will return to racing at De Brabantse Pijl on April, after a block of altitude training for the Ardennes Classics and the Giro d'Italia.

Pidcock dominated Under 23 Giro d’Italia Under in 2020, winning three stages and the overall classification. This will be his first Giro d’Italia but his fifth Grand Tour, as Q36.5 make their Grand Tour debut in Italy. 

“I think it is a fantastic opportunity for us as a team. It’s what we have wanted to be a part of since I joined this team, and now it’s become a reality," Pidcock said. 

"I think it’s going to be a pretty exciting race with lots of different opportunities. I’m glad we have this opportunity, and I’m motivated to make the most of it.” 

To 2026 and beyond

Looking further ahead, Q36.5 needs to improve the quality and strength of their roster. Pidcock was a marquee signing for 2025, and perhaps took away some of their focus or ability to sign other big riders, but they're looking to change that for 2026 and perhaps target a wild card place at the Tour de France. 

The existing team is full of potential, but the roster is also fairly young, and some more experienced names would mean that this time next year, the team are not just racing for a top 20 in races like Flanders, or feeling decimated by a handful of injuries and sickness.

"For next year we will get some more good riders on board," Zemke said, explaining that Pidcock's presence is already bolstering the team's currency on the transfer market. 

"We are also getting interesting for other riders, so they already asked our team to join. You see also we have premium partners here, in Scott bikes, with Mercedes cars, with the clothing Q36.5, Breitling watches too, so it's really high-end sponsors. That's also interesting for riders, if they know they are riding on a perfect bike."

The perfect bike, a bigger and better programme, a Grand Tour wild card and one of the sport's biggest stars. Q36.5 may only be a young ProTeam, but with the arrival of Pidcock, they are well on the way to also becoming one of the top teams. 

The Pidcock effect is in full swing, and there's much more to come from this team in 2025 and beyond.