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Tom 'Pidders' Pidcock

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Yes, spot on!!
Ineos knew what they were getting when they signed him to a big contract. He wasn't your normal road rider, but a multi discipline threat. He's won in all disciplines. So, the criticism of his salary is nonsense really, and actually reeks of 'roadie elitism'.
it has the air of jealously from riders not being paid as much, who feel they are better riders and deserve it more
Yeah Ineos knew and yeah he is getting paid more than some riders with a better road palmares but I think part of the problem is he rides for two sponsors - Ineos and Red Bull. The former wants results on the road and the latter like to see him do spectacular things in the dirt.
I read a while back that there is a conflict of sponsor interest as both are involved in F1 and that's why Van Aert can ride with his helmet in road races (Jumbo sold a lot of energy drinks) and Pidcock can't.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the big factors in the fallout and as far as I can remember he signed with Ineos before doing the Red Bull deal (which must be pretty lucrative in itself)
 
Yeah Ineos knew and yeah he is getting paid more than some riders with a better road palmares but I think part of the problem is he rides for two sponsors - Ineos and Red Bull. The former wants results on the road and the latter like to see him do spectacular things in the dirt.
I read a while back that there is a conflict of sponsor interest as both are involved in F1 and that's why Van Aert can ride with his helmet in road races (Jumbo sold a lot of energy drinks) and Pidcock can't.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the big factors in the fallout and as far as I can remember he signed with Ineos before doing the Red Bull deal (which must be pretty lucrative in itself)
He had a red bull helmet in 2018-19 cross I'm sure, a couple of years before signing for ineos. But yes I hadn't really thought about the ineos-mercedes /red bull F1 conflict.
 
Yes, the Redbull helmet contract was signed while he was racing at Trinity iirc. As Trinity is owned by Andrew McQuaid who also manages many of the Ineos riders including Pidcock, I don't think there's any beef between Ineos, Trinity and Redbull due to F1, it's a personal sponsorship that had to come with Pidcock, but he was already signed to wear the helmet for off-road events.
 
but there are a ton of riders in professional cycling that are like that, theyre not all best buddies with each other, Pidcock is not unique in being like that (even assuming that he is I usually file stuff like that under unsubstantiated gossip), and he shouldnt be unique in that, its often the difference between success at elite level and just one of the also rans.

You often see this kind of stuff said about riders in the women's peloton more, just because women tend to get criticised for it more, so and so is difficult to ride with, only thinks of themselves, not a good teammate etc etc which actually translates to so and so is focussed on actually achieving success and will do everything they can to achieve it.
The fact that Pidcock is one of the few male riders where you actually do hear these kind of stories probably means something, but yeah, other than his teammates and coaches, who really knows. Personally I like him in interviews, he makes an effort not to be boring. He even speaks a fair bit of Dutch out of respect for the Flemish cyclocross audience, which is unnecessary since they understand him anyway but does reflect positively on his character.
 
Pidcock at Ineos was never a good fit, the only thing is that he was the British super talent, so they pretty much had to sign him. But other than that he doesn't suit that team at all. Not in terms of racing style, not in terms of the calendar, not in terms of his offroad ambitions, not in terms of his personality.

And let's be honest, if he really was as good as he thinks he is, they probably would have kept him because that would have made him irreplaceable. He's not. As a road rider he's good but not exceptional, certainly not in this era of cycling.
Except he's still their best PCS ranked rider after CRod, with narvaez gone. And he's much more visible than Carlos. I think they got decent value for him but personal issues and probably a need to cut budget mean he's gone
 
The fact that Pidcock is one of the few male riders where you actually do hear these kind of stories probably means something, but yeah, other than his teammates and coaches, who really knows. Personally I like him in interviews, he makes an effort not to be boring. He even speaks a fair bit of Dutch out of respect for the Flemish cyclocross audience, which is unnecessary since they understand him anyway but does reflect positively on his character.

Yep maybe, maybe not I'm sure if he were rumoured to be paid a fraction of his assumed current wage, they'd all be best buddies with him and you'd never hear a bad word about him ;)
 
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He had a red bull helmet in 2018-19 cross I'm sure, a couple of years before signing for ineos. But yes I hadn't really thought about the ineos-mercedes /red bull F1 conflict.
I don't think it's an issue, despite Ineos being marginally involved in F1, F1 teams are used to these conflicts. It's Pidcocks personal sponsor they happily let him wear it with Ineos kit at his off road races, so it implies the absence in road mode is a lack of Red Bull paying for it. Since Ineos helmets are hardly covered in competing logos, or competing energy drinks.

We don't know his Red Bull deal details, which is Red Bull UKs, not Red Bull Belgium who do Van aerts deal or Red Bull Austria who do F1 and Bora, ever included pro level road racing, as it was setup when he was racing CX for Trinity back in 2020 and doing the UK national series and didnt even have a road contract.and I doubt Red Bull UK have the money in sponsorship to pay for WT riders levels.
 
So he's making too much money (to some) and the response is to deselect him from a big race that he'd be a favorite for? Make it make sense.

The money part is why he gets a bad rep among gossiping riders/fans, because unlike L'Oréal they don't think he's worth it

the deselect thing is Ineos getting the hump about something unrelated to the actual bike racing parts, maybe his agent put in a transfer request or refused to clarify the position.

Apparently he was on the team bus travelling to the team hotel when the call came, if these very top lot at Ineos whoever they are, were that miffed at him, he'd never have been on the shortlist for the race to begin with.

It was a sudden decision and not one borne out of what was best for the team or it's partner sponsors.
 
The money part is why he gets a bad rep among gossiping riders/fans, because unlike L'Oréal they don't think he's worth it

the deselect thing is Ineos getting the hump about something unrelated to the actual bike racing parts, maybe his agent put in a transfer request or refused to clarify the position.

Apparently he was on the team bus travelling to the team hotel when the call came, if these very top lot at Ineos whoever they are, were that miffed at him, he'd never have been on the shortlist for the race to begin with.

It was a sudden decision and not one borne out of what was best for the team or it's partner sponsors.
Spot on. INEOS' handling of Pidcock over the past season has reinforced my concern that the team is not long for this world. They resemble the worst-run organizations in the world in any sport.