Tom Pidcock's expected transfer to Q36.5 is off, at least for the moment, with a well-informed source telling Cyclingnews that the British rider will now stay at Ineos Grenadiers and so respect his existing contract that runs until the end of 2027.
Dan Benson first reported the news that Pidcock's transfer could be off via his Substack account. Now Cyclingnews has heard similar information and obtained further details, including other staff changes and turmoil at Ineos Grenadiers that could emerge in the coming days.
"He stays at Ineos" a trusted source told Cyclingnews, suggesting Pidcock and Ineos Grenadiers can somehow now find a way to work together in 2025, despite their differences.
Pidcock is one of Ineos Grenadiers team leaders but his role and relationship with the team management has worsened significantly in the summer of 2024.
He won the Amstel Gold Race and was a close second on the gravel stage of the Tour de France but then tested positive for COVID-19. He recovered to again win the gold medal in the Olympic mountain bike event but then suffered a concussion in a Tour of Britain crash.
Pidcock suggested he was "portrayed as the bad guy" in the Netflix Tour de France documentary but played down the impact of the sudden removal of Steve Cummings as the team's lead director sportif at the Tour de France. Yet at the Paris Olympics Pidcock admitted he was "mentally a bit frazzled" after speculation about his future at Ineos Grenadiers.
When Pidcock was suddenly 'deselected' from the Ineos Grenadiers line-up for Il Lombardia via a senior management decision, Pidcock seemed destined to leave the team, with Q36.5 his expected destination after other options, including with Visma-Lease a Bike, fell through.
Ineos Grenadiers had appeared ready to pay a part of Pidcock's estimated 3.5 million Euro salary to ensure he left the team but a deal had still to be thrashed out before the UCI approved the transfer.
In the meantime, negotiations between his agent Andrew McQuaid and Ineos Grenadiers team management about a mutual termination of Pidcock's contract at Ineos Grenadiers failed to reach a conclusion.
Pidcock was initially on holiday in Italy last week but then travelled elsewhere, without revealing his holiday destination or updating his social media. While away, his future appeared to sway from a move to Q36.5 back to Ineos Grenadiers.
It is unclear if and how Pidcock's relationship and leadership role with Ineos Grenadiers can be restored in 2025. Ineos Grenadiers are due to gather in Britain in early November for an off-season get-together. Geraint Thomas, Egan Bernal and Carlos Rodriguez remain as team leaders, with Pidcock usually leading the team in the classics and then also riding the Tour de France.
"I don't actually know what has gone on, all I know is, when the highest-paid rider in your team… it's obviously a really crap situation," Geraint Thomas said during an Instagram takeover for Eurosport during Il Lombardia.
"He's not happy, the team's not happy. How has it got to this point? I don't know. People who are around Tom I don't think help."
McQuaid and Ineos Grenadiers preferred not to comment about Pidcock's future when contacted by Cyclingnews. Ineos Grenadiers highlighted that Pidcock was 'under contract' and refused to comment on what they described as 'speculation'.
However, Cyclingnews understands that Pidcock's was on the market during the summer. One source told Cyclingnews that talks with Visma-Lease a Bike ended after the team refused to accept any of Pidcock's entourage as part of a deal. Cyclingnews understands that Tudor were never interested in signing Pidcock after they secured Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi.
Q36.5 appeared quietly confident of signing Pidcock in recent weeks, in the hope of boosting the team's profile in 2025. They have closed down their development team to focus on the ProTeam but billionaire team owner Ivan Glasenberg was reportedly ready to boost the Q36.5 budget to help the ProTeam manager Doug Ryder sign Pidcock.
Glasenberg also owns 80% of Pinarello but was ready to accept that Pidcock raced on Scott bikes at Q36.5 in 2025.
Q36.5 have failed to secure wild card invitations to the Grand Tours but Pidcock's arrival could give them a chance of riding the Giro d'Italia in 2025.
Now those hopes and transfer negotiations seem over. At least for now.
Ineos could try to rebuild their relationship with Pidcock and establish agreed goals with the Yorkshirman or accept that they are better off without him and agree to a mutual termination of Pidcock's contract.
The UCI's final ‘registration period’ for the 2025 season ends on December 31.
