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Doug Ryder reflects on Giro d’Italia

The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team embarked on its first Grand Tour since its inception in 2023. The Giro d’Italia was the perfect place to begin this journey and showcase Q36.5, our proud Italian title sponsor. After 21 stages, General Manager Doug Ryder reflects on his experience of the race.

3 June 2025

“The stats are the stats, and they show we were in the top ten in almost half of the stages. What we did was pretty damn decent. Our aim was to win stages with Tom and Matteo. They each got a podium. Having that result already on day five with Tom was a good boost to morale.”

Many fans were looking forward to stage 9, which featured several of the white gravel roads of Tuscany also seen in Strade Bianche—a race Tom Pidcock has won before and in which he finished second earlier this year.

“Sadly, the Strade Bianche stage didn’t work out for us, with flat tyres and bike changes, but we gave it a good crack. That day, and every day, I saw a team that was committed and rode well together. They carried that spirit all the way to Rome, where everyone stayed sharp and focused for one last push—and that got Matteo on the podium.”

Riding its first Grand Tour was a huge honour for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, but it also came with challenges. Ryder prefers to focus on the positives and sees every race as a chance to grow.

“We learned a lot of lessons. We brought together a group of riders—Tom, Matteo, Mark, Milan, Nick, Damien, Xabier Mikel, and Emils—who didn’t have massive amounts of experience in Grand Tours. Nick and Milan were even rookies.

They did an amazing job being part of the action and trying to race every day. It was sad to lose Nick on stage four, but we made it to Rome with seven healthy, injury-free, smiling riders. That’s a testament to our professional staff too.

"The stats are the stats, and they show we were in the top ten in almost half of the stages."

Doug Ryder

We raced for a general classification result with Tom and gave him the opportunity to see what that demands day in and day out. I must add that our preparation wasn’t ideal, as we only found out a month before the start that we had a wildcard for the Giro. We raced a lot beforehand, and that does take a toll during three weeks of extremely high-level racing.”

In the end, Tom Pidcock finished sixteenth in the overall classification. The team featured in many breakaways and placed in the top ten in eight stages—two of which ended on the podium. The next Grand Tour is the Vuelta a España, which starts in Italy this August.

“I’m proud of the whole team—the staff and the riders—for how they went on this journey together. We learned so much—and without learning, there’s no growth. That’s vital for the development of both the team and the individual riders. We’ll now prepare with precision for a big Vuelta and give the general classification another good shot. And yes, we’re all pretty tired after three weeks on the road in Albania and Italy, but I can’t wait to do it all again together in Italy and Spain in August.”