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Grand Tour Research – La Vuelta
As the riders of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team head into the first rest day of the Vuelta, we reflect on what it has taken to get to only the team’s second ever grand tour appearance and 4th spot on GC for Tom Pidcock.
1 September 2025
THE STORY SO FAR
“Today definitely gives me confidence going into the harder stages that are to come.” – Tom Pidcock, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team.
As it stands, going into the first rest day fourth on GC shows that the preparation and focus leading up to the Vuelta is paying off. Only the team’s second WorldTour appearance after a baptism of fire at the Giro — the signs are promising. With a stage win still the prime target, motivation is high.
On stage 1 from Torino to Novara, David González impressed with 6th place, followed closely by Tom in 9th. Despite a crash on the second day, Tom has been in a bullish mood, riding consistently. “On stage 2 we weren’t afraid to commit and take on the day, I just ran out of legs in the last 100 metres” he reflected in the finish town of Limi e Piemonte in the Italian Alps. Tom had targeted that stage 2, the first rider to attack on the final climb before being passed by eventual stage winner Vingegaard and Ciccone.
A similar outcome on stage 9 last Sunday could have been on the cards, but Tom dug in to follow João Almeida and claw over a minute over many other GC contenders, coming round Almeida to take second. Strong rides from Fabio Christen (11th) and David Gonzalez (13th) on Stage 3 kept up the momentum with Fabio placing 7th in the following stage 4 and again on stage 8.
Onto the team time trial, our first as a group – finishing 8th which is a performance reflecting collective strength and the benefits of the focused preparation ahead of the Vuelta. “I think that’s quite amazing. Our efforts paid off. We came here already in July to do laps, our equipment sponsors went the extra mile, and everyone was motivated in the training sessions.” – Kurt Bogaerts
The first of two mountain stages followed the TTT, where the team hung tough to arrive home safely in Andorra, where a number of Q36.5 riders live and train. The following two stages proved ‘uneventful’ yet consistent – with Fabio Christen rolling over the line in 7th position on the flat stage 8. But it was stage 9 up to the ski station of Valdezcaray, where Pidcock’s race came alive.
We cannot wait to see where the race will take us next. “We’re a wildcard team but we’re taking the race on, trying to make the most of these opportunities to ride two grand tours this year.” – Tom Pidcock.
As already mentioned, In May 2025, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team embarked on their first ever grand tour – the Giro d’Italia.
With a late invitation to Italy’s biggest and most grueling race, rolling off the back of a brutal classics campaign, preparation wasn’t ideal for three weeks of WorldTour stage racing.
Despite some bad luck, performance was good with a top 20 finish on GC. A steep learning curve that has ultimately set the team up to embark on the Vuelta España, their next infiltration of the WorldTour’s toughest events.
Q36.5 Sports Director, Gabrielle ‘Missa’ Missaglia tells us more: “We had asked RCS Sport [organisers of the Giro] if it was possible to invite another team – and in the end the UCI extended the number of wildcard teams in the season to five not four and so we received the invite to Giro and the Vuelta. Which we were very happy about, but also a bit stressed as we had only two or three weeks to prepare. But when we saw the invite I was ready to do everything it takes.” Kurt Bogaerts, Head of Performance, explains some of the challenge of the late invitation: “As more of an all rounder team we have had different goals through the season, competing at the classics like Strade Bianche, Liege, Amstel, and then the Giro arrived on top of all that.”
“If we were a more orthodox GC team you would approach it as a stand alone race and ensure the full squad had the necessary freshness going into such a demanding period of racing.Tom [Pidcock] wasn’t able to go to altitude. We could only recover over a very short amount of time – less than two weeks.”
Missa continues: “We were very ready to participate at the Giro but we were not completely in shape. But this was a good test for the future, for where we are now. Everything was positive. We didn’t have time to recon any of the stages. And this is a major thing.” As well as studying stage parcours in real time, a major part of preparation for a grand tour team is altitude training.
Ahead of the Vuelta the squad went to Andorra to condition themselves, optimize equipment setup and finalise race plans as a group. “A three week race creates a certain fatigue, so you need to be on the top of your game every day to support the riders as best as possible. This is one of the crucial things you want to achieve.” – Kurt Bogaerts
Every department at the team has taken learnings from the Giro, such as ensuring extra staff and vehicles to put things in place that yield the best result over three weeks.
Heat and recovery is also a big topic so Q36.5 have harnessed product expertise to create lighter race suits to be competitive in the heat. “For Tom [Pidcock] it’s probably the first time in his career that he is specifically prepared for a grand tour – his sole focus.” – Kurt Bogaerts
So far, so good. We cannot wait to see where the race will take us next.
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