By Shane Stokes
Recently reunited after Sam Bennett signed a one-year deal with Q36.5 Pro Cycling, Kurt Bogaerts has said that he doesn’t anticipate any challenges in fitting the Irish sprinter and the British GC specialist Tom Pidcock into the same race selection.
Some teams such as Pidcock’s previous Ineos Grenadiers’ squad have minimised the support given to sprinters when they have a major GC goal or, indeed, omitted them entirely from selection for that race.
However when asked if Bennett and Pidcock could both be picked for events such as the Tour de France, Bogaerts made clear it was doable. “For sure. I think everything is possible,” he told stickybottle.
“We see how we handled the Vuelta. I think that worked well for Tom and for the other guys. We were not solely focused on the GC or on Tom.
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"Tom needs a certain level of support, and what is important for him is the other people share the same ambition. That’s like a dedication and winning and wanting to go for it.”
Bogaerts and Bennett worked together for several seasons when the latter was competing with the An Post Sean Kelly team.
Bogaerts' response about having two big names in the same grand tour selection is important for Bennett’s career. Although he has been a pro for ten years, he has only ridden four editions of the Tour.
He was repeatedly passed over for selection by Bora-Hansgrohe due to the presence of Peter Sagan, missed the 2021 Tour due to injury, and was not selected in 2022, 2023 and again this year.
That has been hugely frustrating for Bennett but the reassurance from Bogaerts that he could be part of the Tour squad next season if the team secures an invitation is very important.
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The Belgian explained how the GC and stage-winning ambitions of the team can sit side by side.
“In the Vuelta we went for the sprints on a regular basis with several guys, and we were sprinting top 10. We were going into breakaways.
"And we didn’t lose one spot into the GC. I said this before, we didn’t go with high GC ambitions into the Vuelta, and we will not do that into the future Grand Tours.
“We want to try to win a stage in the Grand Tours. We will participate and then work our way up from there.”
That no-pressure approach paid off in spades for Pidcock, who landed the best GC result of his career in finishing third overall.
Bogaerts wants to replicate that kind of dual approach next season, something that could benefit an in-form Bennett.
“We try to come home with something. A podium is amazing. The longer the Vuelta went on, we identified that actually the podium was possible. Then we actually focused more on the podium than on a stage with Tom. But I think it doesn’t close any doors.
“What is nice when you have a sprinter is that you have ambition every day. You have focus every day; it’s not just concentrating on not losing time. I think it’s a healthy, ambitious focus on a daily basis, that you can have daily goals for different individuals.”
Q36.5 Procycling is a Pro Continental squad and therefore doesn’t have an automatic invite to the Tour. However its strong performances in 2025 and the presence of Pidcock, Bennett, Irish climber Eddie Dunbar and others on the squad make it very likely to be given a green light to compete in the race.
Bennett won two stages plus the green jersey in 2020, marking the high point of his pro career. Returning to winning ways in the Tour is the biggest ambition he has remaining in the sport.
- We will have more soon from Bogaerts, as well as an interview with Bennett.
