The biggest story in pro cycling over the winter was Tom Pidcock’s mid-contract move from Ineos Grenadiers to the smaller Team Q36.5, but his new teammate Damien Howson learned about the news the same way the rest of the world did.
The 32-year-old welcomed the addition of the Olympic mountain bike champion, however.
Speaking to Cyclingnews before the start of stage 3 of the Tour Down Under, where he is competing with the Australian National Team, Howson said, “I came back to Australia in early November – I’ve been training here to get ready for this event – and all of a sudden I’m like everyone else, I see the news. It’s obviously exciting times for the team.”
Team Q36.5 were not among the top ProTeams in the 2024 UCI World Rankings, so they have not earned automatic invitations to any WorldTour races, but the presence of Pidcock, among others, has already helped to secure wildcard spots for La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where Pidcock was second to Remco Evenepoel in 2023.
Pidock is expected to make his debut with the team on January 28 at the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia. He will also join the team in the Vuelta a Andalucia from February 19-23. None of the Grand Tours have announced their wildcard selections, but Q36.5 are aiming to be invited to the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.
“When the team formed they were ambitious to keep moving up the ranks and be in that top echelon of the sport,” Howson said. “We’ve had a few changes over the years, but obviously the addition of Tom is a significant change for the team and the dynamics, and I’m excited to see what he can do.
“He’s not actually won a whole lot of races on the road, but what he does win is truly up there with the greats. You can only imagine if he won Amstel Gold this year for Team Q36.5, how big that would be for the organization. We can then use that as a stepping stone to continue to move forward.
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“I’m excited to see how it all goes. Obviously, there’ll be times that I can continue to be the leader of certain races but then there’s other times that Tom will be the the man and I’m more than happy to make those ambitions of his come true.”
