Tom Pidcock and ProTeam Q36.5 punched above their weight to finish eighth in the Vuelta a España team time trial on stage 5, only losing 22 seconds to winners UAE Team Emirates-XRG and keeping the Brit's GC challenge well intact.
They wouldn't have been expected to be one of the top teams, without much history as a TTT outfit, and with their leader, Pidcock, not being among the better time triallists searching for a solid GC performance at this Vuelta.
But with thorough planning and a gutsy ride in Figueres, they enter the hardest stage of the race on stage 6 in Andorra with Pidcock in 13th overall, just 30 seconds off the overall lead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
"We did a few sessions, tried to do what we could to get ready for it. I think we did a really good job to be honest," said Pidcock to TNT at the finish, satisfied but forced to take a seat after struggling his way through the final phase of the 24-kilometre effort.
"The last five kilometres were horrible, I kept missing the back, you know when someone pulls out and you mistime it, then I was dying.
"For sure, we always knew it was going to be difficult to win, of course, but knew if we did good, solid ride, we would not lose much time, so not bad."
His coach, Kurt Bogaerts, was in great spirits at the team bus, knowing that the 13-second deficit they had to Lidl-Trek when they crossed the line would put in them in a great position no matter how the latter teams performed.
"I don't know what the final time will be, but for now, we are not far off Trek – I think that's quite amazing," Bogaerts told Cyclingnews.
"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. We'll see where we finish, and the place doesn't really matter, but the time gap to the winner will be what we look at."
That gap ended at 22 seconds to the winners, UAE, 14 to Visma-Lease a Bike, and six to Pidcock and Bogaerts' former team, Ineos Grenadiers. That means 11 of the WorldTour teams were beaten by the Swiss second division side, who continue to strive for more success and development with the project built around Pidcock.
"I think that's the goal, that's what we want to do – grow as a team, and eventually go to WorldTour status," added Bogaerts, reflecting on Q36.5 being among the top finishers.
"We've made a lot of signings to boost the team, strengthen the team, and the guys here want to stay and prove that they can be part of that future.
"Today shows that they have the strength to be part of the project, and this is what professional cycling and top sport is – challenging each other in a healthy way and creating a culture of wanting to be in the mix, and wanting to be better all the time, and that's what the guys are doing."
Pidcock's arrival has brought an overall higher level of performance at Q36.5, and he'll look to rectify mistakes made from the uphill finish on stage 2 of the Vuelta, as the race heads to where he lives in Andorra for a tough mountain stage up to Pal.
Bogaerts thinks it's only a matter of time before the big Grand Tour stage win arrives, and it would be his first since his breakaway victory up the iconic Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France in 2022.
"He was in the mix on stage 2, but it's these kinds of finishes where a lot of experience comes in. Tom is now putting more focus on the road, and every finish like that, you get more wisdom for the next one, and you can analyse," said the Belgian coach.
"There, he responded to Felix Gall, which was probably not the right thing, then he hesitated a little bit, so it was an interruption in his effort. And in that kind of finish, you need to just make one effort, then measure at the finish – he did it a bit in steps.
"But he knows that, and that you can take away how everything needs to be timed really well. Guys like Jonas Vingegaard have done many finals against Pogacar and sometimes he's had the upper hand.
"But we will get there. I think we see day by day, but tomorrow and the next day are too hard stages, and we're looking forward to that."
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