Tom Pidcock v Ineos Grenadiers rift is 'messed up' and a 'c*** situation' – Geraint Thomas

Tom Pidcock was "deselected" for Il Lombardia on Saturday, with Ineos sports director Zak Dempster later revealing that it was a decision taken by upper management. Pidcock's Ineos team-mates Geraint Thomas and Laurens De Plus dropped in on Eurosport Cycling's Instagram page to provide an alternative commentary for the race, with fans inevitably asking them about the "elephant in the room"...

Geraint Thomas admits Tom Pidcock's rift with Ineos Grenadiers is a "really c*** situation", adding his view that people in his team-mate's camp "don't help".

Pidcock revealed he had been "deselected" for the final Monument of the season on Saturday, which was won by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).

Ineos sports director Zak Dempster later said it was a "management decision", and not related to performance, sparking more speculation over Pidcock's future at the team.

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Pidcock was expected to lead Ineos' charge in Lombardy on a favourable course. In his absence, Thymen Arensman was the highest-placed Ineos rider in 15th, over seven minutes behind Pogacar.

Responding to questions from Eurosport Cycling fans during a special Instagram takeover with fellow Ineos star Laurens De Plus, former Tour de France champion Thomas said: "We should address the elephant in the room. It's just messed up."

He continued: "I don't actually know what has gone on, but all I know is, when you're the highest-paid rider in your team… it's obviously a really c*** situation.

"He's not happy, the team's not happy. How has it got to this point? I don't know. People who are around Tom I don't think help. The fact is that he had a great chance of performing today.

"I saw that Zak had said it's a management call, it's not a performance call. I certainly don't know anything about that. We're just riders, what do we know about management?

"It's just not good. All the b******* aside, he's a great talent. He's a good guy, when I'm around him we have a nice time, so it's not good to see that situation. We'll see what happens."

Pidcock was touted as the rider to end Ineos' barren run at the Tour de France, with Egan Bernal delivering the team's last yellow jersey in 2019.

But he is yet to crack the top 10 in the GC at a Grand Tour and, with Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) pushing three-week racing to new limits in recent years, it remains a distant dream.

Instead, Pidcock's best success has come in one-day racing - both on and off-road - including victories at Amstel Gold and Strade Bianche, plus two mountain bike Olympic gold medals and a cyclo-cross world title.

"We can't say much about it, but we are a bit disappointed," added De Plus on the situation.

"We don't know what happened. He was actually up for it, we went for a ride last week in Belgium, he was really motivated."

Amstel Gold Race final kilometre: Pidcock edges thrilling four-man showdown

Video credit: TNT Sports

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