After runaway good fortune in his early season marketing campaign along with his new crew, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Professional Biking) heads into the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad feeling upbeat about his possibilities and happy to seek out himself again on acquainted terrain within the cobbles of Flanders. And on the identical time, as he put it, racing greater than ever like he all the time used to do.
Simply in his professional years, Belgium was once the place Pidcock took his first-ever professional win in opposition to a definite Wout van Aert (Visma-Rent a Motorbike) in 2021 within the Brabantse Pijl. It was once additionally the place he took his best possible Monument end – 2d in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023 – and naturally, Q36.5’s head trainer and Pidcock’s teacher Kurt Bogaerts is Belgian.
As for Pidcock, himself his fondness for and familiarity with Belgium extends to the purpose the place to the satisfaction of native media, he even spoke a couple of phrases of Flemish all over his pre-Omloop press convention on Friday.
Again within the provide, Pidcock’s present overall of 4 wins makes him collectively essentially the most prolifically a success racer of the 2025 peloton together with Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), taking victories in his first time participations within the AIUIa Excursion, a GC win there, and Vuelta a Andalucia. On the other hand, as he faces his 5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the 25-year-old Briton is taking a look to attending to caught in to a couple Belgian Classics racing on Saturday.
In all probability what’s maximum other in comparison to different years, even though, is Pidcock’s insistence that no longer most effective was once he racing like he used to when he was once more youthful, however post-Ineos, with what he described on Friday as a “sense of liberation”. Slightly how a ways Pidcock will have the ability to use his new freedom of manouvre in his largest problem so far, we can most effective see on Saturday, however on this season, for Pidock it is for sure been a case of “so far, so very good”.
Requested if he may use his earlier races as reference issues, he mentioned, “I think AIUIa was bit different, it was not really hard til that one climb [on stage 4, where Pidcock took a second win]. But Ruta [the Vuelta a Andalucia, where he finished second overall as well winning a stage] was hard racing.
“I do know my form is just right, so it is great pass into this race with the ones emotions, however as smartly, this race, I have all the time – I would not say struggled, however I by no means had the…it is a tricky race for me to win in comparison to different Classics.
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“I’ve always struggled near the end on the Mur on the Bosberg, so to be honest, it would be easy to do better than I’ve done before in this race.”
Requested for why he is picked up such a lot of wins within the early season, all however doubling his earlier occupation overall of 5 victories to 9, Pidcock identified that each one his earlier wins have been in a lot larger races.
“Of course the number [of victories] is one thing, and I really wanted to start well. But also I think I’m also a better rider now and that’s because of this team and the people in it who are now supporting me. I wouldn’t say I’m a different rider, I’m just more like I used to be.”
Requested later within the press convention to broaden that concept additional about how he is modified, Pidcock mentioned, “It think it’s more a sense of liberation, coming here – fresh motivation, fresh start, that extra energy to look at all the details, also coming here now, the performance side here is really quite impressive, that’s made a big difference to me.
“I am relishing that chance of getting that duty and that involvement within the crew, should you like – I believe concerned, I believe the significance.. How do I say it? It is like I owe them they usually owe me, and our dating is for sure what is riding the entirety, I feel.”
Regarding the here and now, Pidcock’s only racing Omloop and then going onto the Ardennes.
“The Ardennes go well with me smartly, so I feel the theory of coming right here was once – I have been right here annually since turning professional.
“So I think it’s a nice race that I’m familiar with, it’s good to set up the rest of the Classics, also I enjoy racing in Belgium, it’s nicer than doing Drome Ardeche [in France this weekend – Ed].”
The crunch factor for Q36.5 is in all probability their relative collective energy in an Omloop with a formidably deep box. However as Pidcock mentioned, whilst he is mindful that the opposition is robust, his racing so far has given him a large number of self belief each in himself, but in addition in his crew.
“I did look at the start list and there are some super strong teams. But I think we’ve shown how well we work together this year, that’s one thing, and I also think we have a pretty strong team on the start line, you know?
“Fred [Frison], Fabio [Christen]… Kamil [Malecki] final 12 months was once 14th in Flanders, that is a just right trip, so we would not have a foul crew, we should not be afraid lining up those guys racing into the a lot of corners we’re going to be racing into the next day.
“There is no pressure, everything we do is more than what expectations are. And that’s a nice place to be.”
