A 7-hour endurance training: Pidcock fine-tunes for his debut in Spain with a marathon training session in Chile

Tom Pidcock continues fine-tuning his setup for the 2026 season, and he has done so by leaving one of those Strava activities that do not go unnoticed. The British rider, focused in Chile with the Pinarello-Q36.5 team, has completed a demanding outing of more than seven hours and over 4,000 meters of positive elevation gain, which serves as a testament to the work he is doing away from the European spotlight.

Seven hours and 4,000 meters of elevation gain: Tom Pidcock's brutal training during his camp in Chile

Tom Pidcock has been training at altitude with his team for weeks, and in one of the latest sessions, he completed a route of 200.2 kilometers that could well be classified as a "queen stage" due to the accumulated effort. Accompanied by Fred Wright, Fabio Christen, Xandro Meurisse, and Quinten Hermans, the group set off from a mountainous area towards the plains north of Santiago de Chile before returning to the starting point.

The return was the most demanding part of the day, with more than 80 kilometers of practically continuous ascent to the training hotel, located at about 2,750 meters above sea level. In the end, the record totaled 4,003 meters of positive elevation gain, seven hours on the bike, and an average close to 28.5 km/h, figures that are unusual even in high-level preseason training.

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Pidcock did not add comments to the activity, which he labeled with the generic name "Morning Ride," although it is evident that he increased the pace in the final part, where he achieved several personal records on the last climbs to the accommodation. A detail that confirms it was not just a simple endurance ride.

This block of work is part of a 25-day camp in Chile that the team has defended as a very complete alternative to other classic training destinations. In addition to the altitude, the extreme heat is playing a key role. According to his teammates, temperatures in the valley reach 36 °C, with a stifling thermal sensation when riding sheltered from the wind and a UV index of up to 14, which forces them to take extra precautions against the sun.

The team highlights that this environment allows for a more natural combination of altitude training and heat adaptation sessions than in places like Teide or Sierra Nevada, where temperatures are significantly lower or even snow is present. This preparation aligns with the current trend in the professional peloton, increasingly focused on training in extreme conditions as an additional stimulus.

Pidcock's preseason will conclude with this camp before starting his competitive calendar in Spain in mid-February. Between February 3 and 14, Tom Pidcock will kick off his 2026 season in Spain with the Vuelta a la Región de Murcia "Costa Cálida", continuing on February 16 with the Clásica Jaén – Paraíso Interior and completing this first competitive block from February 18 to 22 in the Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta Ciclista del Sol.

Judging by the volume and intensity of his training in Chile, his physical foundation seems more than solid to face the start of the year.