'I prefer having two lively riders' - Pinarello-Q36.5 sports director plays down potential clash between Tom Pidcock and Giulio Ciccone

There will be no clash between Tom Pidcock and Giulio Ciccone at the much strengthened Pinarello-Q36.5 team next year, according to one of the squad’s sports directors, Gabriele Missaglia.

Since joining the team at the start of the 2025 season, Pidcock has been the de facto leader in almost every race he has started. Ten of his career total of 15 road victories have come since his move from what was Ineos- Grenadiers, and he has won the mountain bike World Championships in both years.

After Ciccone was released early from his contract with Lidl-Trek, he and Pidcock will join forces at the Swiss registered squad, and while that might give the team options in some races, both men have similar characteristics and a clash of ambitions could become an issue for the team’s management.

This year the two men have often been seen together at the pointy end of races and both are excellent climbers who perform well on a variety of other terrains, and equally, both ride with aggression and panache. They both have Grand Tour stage wins on their palmarès, the Italian winning the mountains classification at both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, while Pidcock was third at the 2025 Vuelta a Epsaña.

Though their successes have come at different races, both have won one day Classics, too, with Pidcock winning at Strade Blanche and Amstel Gold Race and winning Classica San Sebastián in 2025, among others.

However, despite their similarities, Missaglia told Bici.Pro that he feels having both men in the same line up gives them opportunities on the road.

"I prefer having two lively riders, and at least top-tier ones, rather than just one," Missaglia said. "I think both riders need to see the positive side of the situation. For me, and for them too, not having all the pressure on one rider can be an advantage. Sharing the responsibilities between the two, perhaps even in the same race, is better not only in terms of pressure but also tactically.

"Ultimately, we're a team, and we'll try to work as a team in the best possible way. Maybe one day we'll favour one, the other. We'll see what happens, but I don't see any problems with coexistence."

While the two riders’ programmes for the 2027 season may not even be decided yet, and are certainly yet to be revealed, it is possible they will diverge at some times in the year while we could see them in some of the same races at other times.

"I partly think they'll race together. If I think about the Tirreno-Adriatico, maybe only Ciccone will be there, while I'd like to see both of them at the start of the Milan-Sanremo. It depends on many factors. But again, everything really needs to be built, and we'll do it starting from the next training camp in Spain."

Ciccone’s move to Pinarello came after, though not necessarily because, the Lidl-Trek team failed to defend the maglia rosa when he took over the race lead on stage 4 of this year’s Giro d’Italia. Instead of riding to support Ciccone, the team chose to defend Jonathan Milan’s second place in the points classification, and he lost the jersey after only one day in pink.

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