Tom Pidcock and his Pinarello-Q36.5 teammates took a road less travelled to prepare for their spring goals, heading to altitude in Chile in January before a block of early-season racing in Spain.
Pidcock and his coaches hope the combination of altitude training, intense racing and further quality training will give him a peak of form that will span from Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad until the Ardennes, with Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the Volta a Catalunya in between.
The Tour de France is Pidcock's second major goal of 2026, with any GC hopes built on the back of stage victories and enjoying the challenge, just as he did to finish third overall at the Vuelta a España.
Altitude in the Andes
While some riders were forced to grind out hours on the indoor trainer due to a wet and miserable European winter or after being blocked by heavy snowfalls at the Sierra Nevada, the biggest concerns for Pidcock and his teammates in Chile were the heat in the valley, a constant need for sun screen and huge condors circling above their heads.
Pidcock, Fred Wright, Thomas Gloag, Xandro Meurisse, Fabio Christen, Brent Van Moer and Quinten Hermans spent 25 days in the Andes mountains, staying at 2,780 metres above sea level in the La Parva ski resort above the capital Santiago.
Chile is in the southern hemisphere and so the riders enjoyed the winter warmth whenever they descended from La Parva. They stayed in apartments and bonded post-training, having fun, while working hard.
Chile is a 12-hour flight from Europe but there is only a four-hour time difference, limiting the impact of jet lag. The Pinarello-Q36.5 team invested in the camp, reportedly paying for business class flights for the riders who opted to attend. Norwegian altitude specialist and coach Bent Rønnestad is the part-time head of exercise physiology at Pinarello-Q36.5 and the riders had eight team staff to look after them, including a nutritionist.
Bogearts joined his riders for two weeks in Chile. The roads weren't always smooth but the riders did several blocks of training, including rides over 200km and 4,000 metres of altitude gain.
"A pre-season is about far more than the altitude training," Bogaerts explains to Cyclingnews, going beyond the basic training data and thin air benefits.
"The main reason we went to Chile was to ride in nice weather and be together. Some guys can handle training a lot on the turbo trainer at home or at altitude but I think it's exhausting mentally, I'm not a big fan of that. Mount Teide is often booked up and so the riders were open to a new adventure.
"We asked a lot of different people about Chile and it proved to be a nice adventure. We might go to Colombia or Ecuador next time to keep the January camp interesting.
"Fitness is something you build on through the season and you put your first foundation down early on. We then build on the altitude camp during the early races, maintain it by heat training, using a hypoxic tent or by living at altitude like riders do in Andorra.
"You are fitter after an altitude camp, so you can train more and do better quality work at sea level. It's good when everything comes together and is always worth the effort, like everything in cycling."
Vital early-season racing in Spain
Pidcock and his teammates returned to Europe on February 5, with the Briton making his season debut a week later at the Vuelta a la Región de Murcia and then testing his gravel skills at the Clásica Jaén. Fred Wright is targeting the cobbled Classics and has a far more intense late March and so made his season debut alongside Pidcock at last week's Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol.
Pidcock had form to win both of his early one-day races but was surprised by the decisive attacks. A similar miss-judgment cost him a shot at overall victory in Andalucia but he impressed on Sunday when he attacked alone on the last climb to win the final hilly stage to Lucena.
“It feels great," Pidcock said of his first win of 2026.
"I was getting really frustrated, we trained so hard this winter. We made a big commitment, we went to Chile. We put in so much work and we missed opportunities here. We let the GC go one day and I was getting frustrated that we wasted opportunities. But we took it. The team was great and I finished it off. Then it makes it all worthwhile."
Pidcock will head to Belgium later this week with 25 days of altitude training and seven days of aggressive early-season racing in his legs. Wout van Aert will arrive in Belgium directly from Visma-Lease a Bike's altitude camp at Sierra Nevada, while Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) raced and won two stages at the Volta ao Algarve. Tim Wellens also raced in Spain and will lead UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with Tadej Pogačar only making his season debut the week after at Strade Bianche.
The early-season racing in Spain was considered vital for Pidcock.
"Altitude training is great but you still need to have your racing legs," Bogaerts suggests, dipping into his old-school cycling upbringing in Belgium, that included years of working with Sean Kelly at the An Post–Chain Reaction team.
"People who train at sea level will have potentially better race legs in the short term, while altitude training includes lots of climbing and daily rides back up to the altitude location. Tom raced in Spain to help polish his form and get back into racing with his teammates.
"He had good legs in Murcia, Jaén and Ruta. I think we could have won more races. We have 10 new riders in the team for 2026 and so it was also about learning to race together."
Elevating Pinarello-Q36.5 to higher goals and giving 100%
Pidcock elevated the quality and the ambitions of the Pinarello-Q36.5 team in 2025 and the arrival of the Italian bike brand as a title sponsor and automatic wild card invitations to all the 2026 WorldTour races, including their first Tour de France.
New signings include Wright and fellow Briton Gloag, who impressed on the hilltop finishes at the Volta ao Algarve. Aimé De Gendt, Quinten Hermans, Brent Van Moer and Xandro Meurisse all boost the Classics roster and team core, while Australian Chris Harper has plenty of Grand Tour experience. Eddie Dunbar also joined from Jayco-AlUla and is likely to lead the team's hopes in the Giro d'Italia. Sam Bennett was signed as a sprinter but his debut was delayed by a recent heart issue and heart ablation surgery.
"Everyone talks a lot about Tom, but I think we have more than Tom now," Bogaerts says of the 2026 Pinarello-Q36.5 roster he carefully built with team manager Doug Ryder and the other team staff.
"Tom is a big name and lifts the team but he also likes to be connected with this team and he feels responsible for this team. We expect some other guys to rise up and be important parts of this team in the longer term."
Gloag will be given time to rebuild his career after his terrible knee injury, but Bogaerts highlights Fabio Christen as a rider to watch, while Wright is considered as an alternative team leader to Pidcock in the Classics. Bogaerts has worked with the Londonder since he was teenager travelling to race in Belgium.
Bogaerts has also known Pidcock since he began to race cyclo-cross as a boy in Belgium. He worked with him at Team Wiggins in 2018 and 2019 as Pidcock emerged as one of the best riders of his generation. They both joined Ineos Grenadiers and Bogaerts left with Pidcock to move to Q36.5 after his divorce with the British WorldTour team.
Bogaerts has seen the good times and quietly and loyally worked through the bad times alongside Pidcock.
"Tom's career has developed in different phases, including his mountain bike success at the Olympics and cyclo-cross success," Bogaerts points out.
"Now he's more focused on road racing but I think he's in a good place, where he can build on it all. We have to remember he's only 26 but of course he's changing as he develops and matures."
Bogaerts is softly spoken and patient, while Pidcock can be direct and speaks from the heart.
"He can be confrontational but at least you know what you're dealing with," Boagerts says.
"He's quite clear about what he wants but he admits it when he makes mistakes too. He's like a knife with two sides but he's not a bullshitter.
"I think we value each other's work. I like to give 100%, but then of course I expect the other person to give 100%. When that happens you can achieve amazing results. That's how we're working for this spring: at 100%, from the altitude camp to the Ardennes and everything in between."
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