Tom Pidcock to race on both Pinarello and Scott bikes for 2025 in unusual sponsor clash

Pinarello has announced that Tom Pidcock will continue to race on their bikes off-road, but he will use a Scott bike in road races after his transfer from Ineos Grenadiers for Q36.5 for 2025.

It is unusual to see a sole rider, especially one as high profile as Pidcock, mix brands across different disciplines but Pidcock has a three-year-deal with Pinarello, that matches his three-year contract  with Q36.5. 

Both the team and Pinarello are controlled by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg , who is expected to bankroll Pidcock's arrival at Q36.5. The deal could lead to Pinarello sponsoring Q36.5 in the future but this has not been confirmed.

Pinarello said Pidcock's use of their bikes is limited to cyclocross, mountain biking and gravel. Pinarello explicit states that “The only occasions he will not compete on a Pinarello will be during road events.”

Q36.5 has an agreement with Scott bikes and Syncros components until the end of 2025 and confimed that Pidcock will switch to their road bikes. 

On the continued use of Pinarello, Pidcock said: "To me, our relationship feels more like a partnership than a sponsorship. I’m looking forward to the next three years of racing and developing more great bikes with Pinarello."

Given he was instrumental in the development of the Crossista cyclocross model, and latterly the Dogma XC mountain bikes it seems the Italian brand was keen to keep its star rider ‘in the family’ at least to some degree. 

Pidcock will also still play a developmental role in new models, those being the Crossista that he won a world championship aboard, the Dogma XC, upon which he secured an Olympic gold medal, and also the Grevil, the brand’s gravel bike, though Pidcock hasn’t dipped his toe into gravel racing as yet. 

We have seen photos of the Ineos riders in new kit for 2025, but they are all still aboard the Pinarello Dogma F, the brand's only all-rounder race bike. Given the brand has been with Ineos, and formerly Team Sky for a great deal of time it may be that more than one team will race aboard Pinarello bikes for the first time. However, the team's contact with the Italian bike company ends at the close of 2024, so whatever the case we will know very shortly.

The murky waters of sponsorship agreements are cleared slightly when you understand that the Q36.5 clothing brand, and the associated cycling team, are owned by Ivan Glasenberg, a South African businessman who also owns a controlling stake in Pinarello, purchasing all but 20% of the company (retained by Fausto Pinarello) from L Catterton in 2023 for a reported €200m.

It is not unusual for star riders to bring big name sponsors along with them as they change teams. It was recently reported that Specialized would become the bike sponsor of FDJ-SUEZ, following the transfer to the french team of Dutch superstar Demi Vollering from SD-Worx. The transfer of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to Visma-Lease A Bike however is seeing the French multiple world champion aboard a different bike brand; Cervélo, in this case.

What is unusual is a rider on any team using a bike of a different brand to his team sponsor, even off-road. Pidcock has done this in the past, notably using unbadged BMC mountain bikes in competition prior to the development of the Dogma XC. Wout van Aert and Marianne Vos spent one cyclocross season continuing to use Bianchi Zolders despite Jumbo-Visma already making the move to Cervélo for reasons of consistency, but they were at least repainted in the colours of Jumbo-Visma. 

Scott however already makes a hardtail, used to great effect by Nino Schurter in recent years. It does not have a cyclocross bike, but does have gravel bikes in its range. Perhaps if the wheels are in motion for Q36.5 to move to Pinarello for 2026 it is simply easier to allow Pidcock a single season of difference before bringing the rest of the team under the umbrella.