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Making Time: The Vuelta TTT | Realising a Grand Ambition
A month after the 2025 Vuelta a España, where Q36.5 Pro Cycling and Tom Pidcock stood on the podium in Madrid, we’re still catching our breath. What began with the hope of a top-10 finish ended with Pidcock shoulder to shoulder with Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida — an achievement born out of countless details, obsessively refined, and a cohesive, purpose-led approach, timed to perfection.
“Things don’t happen overnight,” says Doug Ryder, Q36.5 General Manager. “The Vuelta result came from steady, incremental gains. The time trial — man and machine against the clock — is where you see our progress clearest.”
30 September 2025
The GC Dream
If there was a single hinge point for our Vuelta accomplishments, it came early: the stage 5 team time trial. Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team finished eighth, just 22 seconds off the winners. For Tom Pidcock and his teammates, it was the launchpad for a bonafide podium push.
“The ten seconds we gained over Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe were decisive,” explained Head of Racing Alex Sans Vega. “After three weeks, the fight for the podium came down to 32 seconds. That shows how crucial those little details were.”
Those details began weeks earlier at an altitude camp in Andorra. Sans Vega did a recon of the parcours himself to understand if the riders should too. Then the squad split into groups, one already training as the Vuelta lineup to go and test the course. That meant when race day came, they knew every corner and bump by heart. Other teams wasted energy scouting the route on the day – Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team were ready.
Tactics, Tech, Execution
“The Vuelta was really a story of collaboration,” insists Head of Biomechanics Ken Ballhause. “Every piece of the puzzle is carefully assembled.”
For many riders, it was their first Grand Tour and first TTT. Yet instead of a ragged underdog effort, they delivered a smooth, disciplined ride. “The trickiest section was the final six kilometres,” said Sans Vega. “Speed bumps, new pavement, tight corners. If the first rider accelerates too hard, the last rider burns matches closing gaps. On the radio I kept reminding them: hold the pace until everyone’s back in line, then push.”
Fuel for Precision
Behind the scenes, nutrition was tuned with the same care. “People think nutrition is about keeping riders lean,” said team nutritionist Adam Plucinski. “It’s the opposite. Our job was to make sure they ate enough — and in a time trial, timing was everything.”
Breakfast was light but carb-rich: pancakes and low-fibre bread. Three and a half hours before the start came the all-important rice porridge — “super easy to digest, low in fat and protein.” Two hours out, a sugar snack; an hour before, bicarbonate and caffeine. Ice gels fought the Spanish heat. With little chance to drink during the effort, hydration had to be banked beforehand.
Faster Fabrics
As title sponsor and technical partner, Q36.5’s contribution extends beyond simply fitting the riders for jerseys and bibs. Founder and CEO Luigi Bergamo explained: “Because we have in-house facilities in Bolzano, we can move from concept to prototype in a day. Custom tailoring is essential. If it doesn’t fit perfectly, you lose aerodynamic advantage.”
With 90% of resistance coming from drag — 70% from airflow over the rider’s body — the skinsuit becomes a major tool of battle. But thermoregulation mattered as much as aerodynamics. “Without temperature control, performance drops dramatically. The challenge is balancing both.”
Testing ran from wind tunnels to climate chambers in Como, with Tom’s brother Joey Pidcock serving as a near-perfect replica test athlete. Fabrics, helmets, cockpits: every variable trialed, measured, refined and dialed.
Luigi concludes: “Of course, I’m very happy with what we achieved at the Vuelta over three weeks. Seeing riders like Tom finish strong, zipped up while others had their suits open, proved that our thermoregulation worked. It was a proud moment for us as developers and for the riders as athletes. The team’s fight and performance gives us great optimism for the future.”
A Defining Ride
For Doug Ryder, the TTT was a microcosm of the team’s ambition. “If we want to race against the best, we need the infrastructure to support our riders at the highest level. In that 25-minute effort, coaching, biomechanics, physiology, training loads — everything came together.”
The result? Eighth place, just six seconds behind INEOS Grenadiers. And, tellingly, without a single television motorbike following them. “That’s how much we were underestimated,” Ryder reflects “no TV time, no expectations. Then we arrive, and suddenly we’re not far off the best in the world.”
The effort was made of time, of invisible, painstaking hours: biomechanics checked in Australia, training load structured in Spain, Joey Pidcock clocking 12 hours in a wind tunnel. “Look at everything that came together in that one ride,” Ryder said. “It was pretty cool.”
It set the tone. Pidcock avoided the early time losses that usually sink GC outsiders. He thrived on punchy climbs, managed the high mountains, and by Madrid, he was on the podium.
Ryder believes Pidcock is thriving. “At 26, he’s still young for Grand Tours. He’s an underdog — and he loves that.”
Ubuntu
Ryder explains Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team’s culture goes beyond watts-per-kilo, referencing Ubuntu, the African philosophy of shared humanity. “You cannot exist in isolation. Only together. That spirit makes this more than a job. When you’re purpose-led, people go the extra mile.”
That purpose extends back to Ryder’s affection for African cycling. He recalls former Rwandan team rider Adrien Niyonshuti, who overcame personal tragedy to become an Olympian and national flagbearer. Ryder sees the 2025 World Championships in Rwanda as another turning point: “A country of a thousand mountains, and almost millions lining the roads. It’ll do a lot for African cycling.”
Right now, Ryder’s focus is pragmatic: finishing the season ranked in the ProTeam top-three, guaranteeing access to Grand Tours and Monuments. “You can’t prepare for a Grand Tour four weeks before, as we’ve experienced as a wild card outfit this term” he said. “Predictability is the difference between managing chaos and building long-term success.”
Forward
The Vuelta podium has already changed the conversation. Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team are no longer outsiders knocking on the door. They have proved they can move in unison with the sport’s best — built around a rider blossoming into a true Grand Tour contender, with others soon to follow.
“Our goal is simple,” Ryder concluded. “Win big races. Be incredible in the biggest races.”
For Tom Pidcock and Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Madrid was not the end of a grand ambition. It was the beginning.
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