slcbob

Where do you think he'll end up?

We saw some tension in the last season of Unchained (2023 TdF) and hints that little Tommy didn't play well with others. Saw the echo of that with his semi-nemesis Steve Cummings getting stiff armed from the grand tours, arguably score 1 for Tom. Then the surprise non-start at Il Lombardia, score -10 for Tom.

It will be interesting to watch this play out. Much gossip in the rage. George and Johan saying his palmares on the road don't justify the salary, stick to your knitting, lose CX and XC, start performing. Lots of other whispers and predictions. Here's one:
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/...r-within-ineos

Where do you think he ends up?

john m flores 

It's time for him to step up and see if he's got what it takes to lead a team instead of being a top, stage hunting lieutenant. Q36.5 might be a good place for that.

Jughed

I would hate to jump into the GC pool right now.

diphthong

tpiddy is an interesting rider being able to do well in multiple disciplines like wva and mvdp. do i see him as a true podium contender at the gt's? no.
do i see him at a top ten podium gc contender? definitely. could he possibly find himself in the top three at a gt given illnesses/crashes/abandons and
sheer tactical acumen and riding ability along with things breaking just right? yes.

dude is a beyond solid classics/one-day guy and climber. i know these races tend to get overlooked/minimized vs classics and gt's but think he could excel
at (near) weeklong stage races such as the tour de suisse, tirenno-adriatico, dauphiné, langkawi and really clean up there. sure, he could pick one tour to "go for"
and feel like the giro or vuelta would be best and super-dom another for a teammate. but yah, going to a smaller team, he would def be the big fish in a small
pond and likely to be pushed into doing le tour and most of the classics for sponsor visibility vs a program/slate of races that he would be consistently amongst the favorites.

slcbob

There's a lot to unpack there. I mostly agree! But I'll split hairs and say:

1) "top, stage hunting lieutenant" is both a completely appropriate phrase and one that cuts to the quick. Has he ever been a lieutenant, or just a privateer? As to how "top" -- those 5 victories, many really significant, are more than most riders will see in a career. But are they Tippity top? (T Piddy top?) Or a bit less?

2) "lead a team" -- I can see him well-suited to being the protected rider but it seems he has a ways to go to lead a team.

I'll stop flogging that horse now and enjoy the rest of the discussion.

He surely is a treat to watch descend. I see him stage hunting in the week long and grand tours, and competing for podiums in the classics. His buyout is a big obstacle. Maybe Ineos will subsidize his move. If it doesn't fold after next year.

diphthong

for anyone that's ever descended (or unwisely and illegally-for good reason-ascended) tuna canyon road in the santa monica mountains near los angeles, this gives me absolute
nightmares. fancied myself as a descender waay back in the day but this particular road/course is arguably the toughest in all of socal factoring in curves, road quality, road width, visibility and ridiculously stupid pitch on 2/3rds of the endeavor. tpiddy rippin and grippin.

slcbob

^ yikes.

john m flores 

"Has he ever been a lieutenant" is a valid question that I think is blurred by the fact that INEOS hasn't managed to field a top-tier grand tour GC potential-winner since Pidock joined. Geraint Thomas finished third in the 2022 TdF, but was never a real threat to Jonas or Tadej. And that's been true ever since. So within the context of a team not having a leader that has a real chance of victory, hunting for the media attention that stage victories brings becomes more important.

Agreed. It's a big step up, not just in ability but in leadership and other qualities. That's why my vote was for Q36.5, a less prominent team where he might grow into the position of leader. The GTs aren't within reach, but maybe in 2025 they can compete for the podium in the Tour Down Under, Tour de Suisse, and other, smaller stage races.

This has been a good discussion and Pidcock's certainly fun to watch. Here's an interesting quote from INEOS Director Dave Brailsford, after the 2022 Tour de France,

"Asked if Pidcock could be developed into a Tour contender in the coming years, Brailsford was more guarded. 'I think if you clip his wings you’re taking away from the personality and the bike rider that he is. The mistake would be to drop him into a very sterile approach because I’m not sure that’s right for him...He needs the opportunity to be himself. I think he can set his sights on the Tour in the future, but to get there, he has to be true to his authentic self and his authentic self is a brilliant bike rider across all terrains.'"

MinnMan

I can't produce much sympathy for the guy. I guess he's a great MTB rider, but on the road, he can't compete with the top tier for GC and in CX, he can only win if WvA or MvDP aren't there. So he's an over-hyped solid stage-hunting dude. He'll have some good moments on GT stages that suit him. I'm not sure he can really shine in the classics.

Yeah, a good rider, but he gets far more press attention than 20 others with similar accomplishments and potential.

MinnMan

well, I should correct myself. He has had some notable classics wins - including Strade BIanche and Amstel Gold. Still doesn't distinguish him from a lot of others in the top 20.

OBoile

Your comment was fair IMO. He's a pretty good classics rider, but he's not a superstar. For the foreseeable future, he's capable of winning one day races, but he isn't going to be on the short list of favourites for the big ones.