Tom Pidcock will not pivot to Flanders and Roubaix if team isn't selected for Giro d’Italia 🇮🇹
Q36.5 aiming to strengthen every department on the transfer market
Q36.5 Pro Cycling will learn whether they have a spot in the Giro d’Italia within the next 24 to 48 hours. However, even if the team is not selected, team leader Tom Pidcock will not change his race schedule to include the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix.
The British rider took a break after Milan-San Remo and is currently set to skip the cobbles Classics to prepare for the Ardennes and his defence of Amstel Gold Race.
His current race plans have been created as if the Giro d’Italia wildcard has been awarded to Q36.5 Pro Cycling, but if that scenario doesn’t play out, he will not reverse his decision by adding Flanders or Roubaix.
Last season, Pidcock was dropped into Paris-Roubaix at the last minute by Ineos Grenadiers before going on to finish 17th. The race was instrumental in his build-up to Amstel Gold Race, which he won from a select group.
According to his coach and sports director, Kurt Bogaerts, no such plans are on the table if Q36.5 does not qualify for the Giro.
“No. I don’t think so. It’s next week with the Tour of Flanders. Yes, he did Paris-Roubaix last year, but that was because he crashed at Itzulia Basque Country before the start of the TT, and we missed a lot of competition going into the Ardennes. For me, knowing Tom, to be at his best, he needs competition, and that was to protect the Ardennes. I think that he did quite well. He did Paris-Roubaix for a hard race, and I think he benefited from that in Amstel. Unfortunately, he punctured twice in Liege. He was ninth, but I think he could have been on the podium. That was the goal of doing Paris-Roubaix at the last minute. If he’d done Itzulia Basque Country, then he would never have done Roubaix,” Kurt Bogaerts told us at the start of Gent-Wevelgem.