Pidcock raises the bar on his own, what can we expect from him now?

He arrived at La Vuelta with the moral obligation to justify Q36.5's invitation to the race and concludes it on an unexpected, even for him, podium that has made him reconsider his options in the grand tours. Tom Pidcock is already thinking about new challenges after tasting the podium in the Spanish tour.

The podium at La Vuelta opens up new expectations in Tom Pidcock's career

"It's the most important performance of my career, although it may not be the greatest individual success. I don't know what to say, I'm very proud," Tom Pidcock stated a couple of days ago after resisting with the best riders in the inhuman final climb of La Bola del Mundo, in the penultimate and decisive stage of La Vuelta 2025.

A podium that, given Tom Pidcock's background in the grand tours, where he has never particularly shined in the 3 Tour de France, 1 Giro d'Italia, and 2 Vueltas a España he has competed in. Only that fantastic stage of the Tour de France in 2022 where he amazed us with a spectacular descent down the Galibier to join a breakaway that he would successfully finish on the iconic Alpe d'Huez stands out.

RECOMENDADO

"I haven't been feeling well for a while": Van der Poel admits his slump at the World Championships

Jonas Vingegaard wins La Vuelta 2025 in a finish marked by protests in Madrid

Hatherly surprises everyone and is XCO World Champion once again

2025 XCO World Championships: favorites, schedules, and how to watch for free

Vingegaard certifies his victory in La Vuelta 2025 with a stage win

Jenny Rissveds fulfills the predictions and is proclaimed XCO world champion in Valais

But in this edition of La Vuelta, perhaps due to the need for Q36.5 to perform well in the race after the controversial invitation that meant leaving out one of the Spanish Pro Tour teams, it has been the catalyst that Tom Pidcock needed to have the mentality to endure and resist every day in pursuit of a high overall classification, which he has finally achieved with the coveted prize of the podium, something that is not within reach of many cyclists.

As is often the case in these situations, this result has made Tom Pidcock rethink certain things. He had come from his time at INEOS Grenadiers, where mountain biking had top priority, a discipline in which he had been unbeatable. He had few but select victories in road cycling, always of a classic nature, while the tours, big or small, were seen by the British cyclist as a bothersome obligation.

However, his move to Q36.5 has brought about a change in focus. For now, this season he has focused primarily on road racing and surprised everyone at the beginning of the year by winning the AlUla Tour and also contending for the general classification in the Vuelta a Andalucía. Despite this change in philosophy, practically no one expected Pidcock to achieve a podium at La Vuelta.

"It's a turning point. This result will change my relationship with the grand tours. Now I will go to the World Championships. I am in great shape," declared Tom Pidcock at the end of the race. These intentions, born out of the euphoria of the great result achieved, perhaps should be analyzed more calmly before committing his seasons to the general classifications of the grand tours, where very few are able to shine.

And, without taking away from the merit of Q36.5's cyclist's podium, it must be taken into account that this edition of La Vuelta had a somewhat limited participation in terms of top grand tour riders. Carapaz dropped out of the race just before it started. Primoz Roglic, in a difficult year for him, had already ruled himself out after his disastrous Tour de France, and what can we say about the best, Tadej Pogacar, who, given the circumstances, probably wouldn't have given anyone a chance.

Also, the poor route of this edition of La Vuelta played in favor of Tom Pidcock, with a minimal time trial mileage, especially after the reduction of the individual time trial in Valladolid, and a majority of stages with a single climb format that resulted in little battle among the favorites, as well as quite contained, if not unusually short, distances in some of the stages.

Indeed, in this edition of La Vuelta, all the conditions were met, again, without detracting from the achievement, for Tom Pidcock to reach the third step of the podium. However, the most remarkable aspect is the necessary change in mentality to have been able to defend his position day by day and take advantage of his few opportunities, as happened on the day in Bilbao where, let's not forget, he was the only cyclist capable of dropping Jonas Vingegaard.

We do not know if Tom Pidcock will ultimately choose to focus on the grand tours in the next season, but if he does, perhaps he is jeopardizing his chances in other races more suitable for his abilities, such as a Liege-Bastogne-Liege or a Lombardia, in favor of a type of race with much more uncertain results where, we repeat, today, the duo Vingegaard-Pogacar absolutely condition everything due to their enormous superiority over the rest.

In any case, it will be a decision that Tom Pidcock will make hand in hand with his sports directors at Q36.5 after analyzing the season's data and evaluating whether with his numbers it is viable or not to aspire to compete in a three-week race with the clear goal of victory. We will still have to wait a few months to find out.