"It's Too Soon to Say When He Could Be Back" — Pinarello-Q36.5 Boss Issues Fresh Pidcock Injury Update as Ardennes Hopes Hang By a Thread
Pinarello-Q36.5 sports director Jens Zemke has confirmed there is still no firm timeline for Tom Pidcock's return from the knee injury he suffered in his heavy Volta a Catalunya crash, telling reporters on Wednesday that "it's too soon to say when he could be back" and admitting that the team is now relying on day-by-day medical assessment with the Ardennes Classics just over a week away.
The British star has been one of cycling's most-anticipated spring stories, having rebuilt his career around an Ardennes-and-Tour-de-France 2026 calendar after his switch to Andrea Bartolozzi's Q36.5 Pro Cycling project. He defended his Amstel Gold title last year and arrived at the Volta a Catalunya in genuine GC form, but his entire spring campaign was thrown into doubt when he crashed at around 60 km/h on a descent during stage five, ending up in a roadside ravine.
Initial assessments revealed bruising and stress fractures to the right tibia and fibula, plus damage to three of the four major knee ligaments — the ALL, MCL and LCL — and a small bone fragment that has come loose on the front-outside of the joint. Mercifully, the cruciate ligament was spared, sparing Pidcock surgery and a write-off of his entire season. But the recovery timeline is still proving impossible to pin down, and Zemke has now publicly conceded as much.
"At this stage, it's honestly too soon to say when Tom could be back," the German DS told the IDLProCycling and CyclingUpToDate journalists who pressed him for an update on Wednesday morning. "We are checking him every day. Some days are better than others. We have to respect what the body is telling us. Of course we are still hopeful that he can be on the start line in some form during the Ardennes — that has been his big goal — but we are not going to make any promises that we cannot keep."
Q36.5 had originally penciled Pidcock in for a return at Brabantse Pijl next Wednesday as a sharpening day before Amstel Gold on April 19. That plan now appears to be off the table, with team sources telling Belgian outlets that even Flèche Wallonne on April 22 looks marginal. The team's most realistic remaining target may be Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 26 — or, in the worst case, no Ardennes campaign at all.
That last possibility would be a brutal blow for both rider and team. Pidcock has built his entire racing identity around the Ardennes triptych in recent seasons, and Q36.5 secured their wild-card invitations to all three races partly on the back of his star power. Without him on the start line, the team's spring narrative collapses into a patchwork of stage-race opportunism — and the Brit's own Tour de France preparation, built around peak Ardennes intensity, takes a serious hit.
For now, Q36.5's medical staff are focused on protecting the knee through low-impact rehabilitation. Pidcock has been doing controlled indoor turbo-trainer sessions and has begun light gym work to maintain conditioning, but he is yet to ride outdoors and is still wearing a brace for daily activities. "The bone is healing, but the ligaments are slow," Zemke said. "And the small fragment is the X-factor — the orthopaedic team want to be absolutely sure it is not going to cause more damage when he starts loading the joint properly."
Ardennes week starts in Belgium on April 19. Whether or not Pidcock makes it to the start of any of the three Monuments, his absence would be felt across the men's peloton — not least by Remco Evenepoel, whose freshly-confirmed Ardennes campaign would suddenly look far more straightforward without one of his most dangerous rivals. For the moment, Q36.5 are saying nothing they can't take back. But the silence itself is starting to speak louder than any official statement.