ANALYSIS | The current state of British cycling including Thomas, ITV and Onley

By the time Oscar Onley rolled into Paris as Britain’s breakout star of the 2025 Tour de France, most UK fans felt that they were entering a new era. The once-familiar rhythms of free-to-air cycling, the commentary of Boulting and Millar, the iconic “Beat Route” intro, the feeling of the Tour being part of the British summer, are now gone. ITV signed off after over 2 decades with an emotional highlight show on July 27, and live coverage of the world’s biggest race now sits behind a £33.99 paywall on TNT Sports and Discovery+.

It’s not just a blow to casual fans, it’s a problem for the entire British cycling ecosystem. Riders like Onley used to emerge in plain sight, visible to every family with a TV. Now, they’ll have to break through in silence, unless you’re paying for the privilege. Yesterday we reported that Ned Boulting had warned of a crisis for British road racing, but with riders like Onley has it truly become such a severe problem?

“It’s definitely sparked a bit of a dream,” Onley said, after finishing fourth overall in only his second Tour. And it should. The young Scot was the only rider able to stay with Pogacar and Vingegaard on the brutal slopes of the Col de la Loze, and oh so nearly challenged Florian Lipowitz for third overall.

On a day when GC contenders were shelled out of contention, Onley was still standing. “I don’t really realise it yet,” he admitted in Paris. “Just from talking to other riders in the bunch, going forward, we have something to build on and an exciting project for the future.”

After several years lacking a true GC contender, Onley has announced himself at precisely the right time. A new British GC hope, finishing fourth at the Tour, matching the sport’s giants in the Alps. But, will he be able to inspire fans and young riders the same way the likes of Cavendish, Thomas and Froome did before him?

Let’s take a close look at the current state of British cycling, and whether there are severe causes for concern.

The end of the ITV era wasn’t the only goodbye in Paris. Geraint Thomas rode his final Tour this summer, eighteen years after his debut in 2007. He entered that first race as its youngest rider. This year, at 39, he was the oldest. “Maybe it’s more of a young man’s sport these days, and I’m too old. It’s a good time to stop,” he said in his final press conference. On the rainy Champs-Élysées, Thomas described the chaos of the last stage as both “horrific” and “the best last lap I’ve ever done.”

That lap also felt like a full stop on an era. Thomas, Froome, Wiggins, Cavendish, they made British road cycling mainstream. They brought Grand Tour wins, headlines, knighthoods. They were the backbone of British cycling, Team Sky and later INEOS. Even with Froome still racing, with Thomas gone, it feels like that era is officially over. And the new generation will inherit a vastly different landscape.

Oscar Onley has already proven he can carry part of that burden, yet he wasn’t even supposed to ride for GC at the Tour. His job was to support stage hunters, but he rode his way into contention and stayed there. By the final week, Red Bull was eyeing him with caution, and Visma respected his wheel. He may not be a household name yet, but inside the peloton, he’s no longer under the radar.

“He can climb with the best guys in the world,” his sports director said. That alone is more than most British riders of the past decade have managed outside of Thomas and Froome.

But for Onley to truly lead this new era, he can’t do it alone. Others need to step forward, and one of them is non other than Tom Pidcock.

Few riders in the world are more versatile than Pidcock. He’s a double Olympic mountain bike champion, a cyclocross world champion, and a Classics winner on the road. But so far, his Grand Tour record doesn’t match his reputation, as it is now three years since he incredibly won on Alpe d’Huez.

After a disappointing Giro d’Italia in May, where he faded in the second half of the race, Pidcock now heads to the Vuelta a España with both something to prove and a chance to finally do it. It is true that the Giro came soon after the classics, and Pidcock had sub-optimal preparation, and he was unfortunate to miss out on the gravel stage 9 due to a crash and puncture. Still, he needs an important result on the road.

The Vuelta is his opportunity. With Pogacar resting, Ayuso and Almeida leading UAE, and questions surrounding Vingegaard’s recovery post-Tour, a strong GC result at the Vuelta is still possible. Pidcock will have the freedom, and the pressure, to ride for himself. His move from INEOS to Q36.5 was a clear attempt to reset expectations and take ownership of his career. Now, he needs to deliver.

He has the talent. But Grand Tours demand more than that. They demand consistency and the ability to suffer quietly for three weeks. Pidcock has recently been off road mountain biking, winning the European championships. But if he wants to become a true GC contender, he needs a top 5 finish at La Vuelta at the end of this summer.

On the women’s side, there is one name already standing out: Cat Ferguson. At just 19, Ferguson is part of a new generation of riders breaking through as British Cycling grapples with the gap left by Lizzie Deignan’s looming retirement and the likes of Katie Archibald’s focus on the track. Ferguson has been dominant in the junior ranks, and is a star in the making on the road, in cyclocross, and on the track.

The women’s road scene in Britain needs a consistent figure to rally behind, and Movistar’s Ferguson could be that rider. She’s won the Clasica Femenina Navarra this year, as an impressive 2nd overall at the Tour of Britain, as well as winning a stage, the young rider’s classification, and the points classification. Undoubtedly, Ferguson is one to get excited about.

That’s the real question facing British road cycling: will anyone see this next era?

For years, the Tour de France was part of Britain’s sporting summer, and it was easy to watch, accessible to kids who didn’t have Eurosport or TNT. Ultimately, it created casual fans who tuned in every July, whilst it also brought in new riders. It built the audience that once filled Olympic velodromes and lined Yorkshire’s roads for the Tour in 2014.

Now, live coverage costs nearly £34 a month, over £400 a year for cycling fans alone. That’s not a casual investment, that’s a genuine barrier.

And what happens when new stars rise with no one watching? Will sponsors still come? Will local clubs still grow? Will a kid see Onley or Ferguson in yellow and decide they want to be next?

The truth is, British road cycling isn’t in crisis, as the riders are very much here. Onley and Pidcock have the potential to pick up strong results, but they must come to terms with the fact that they ride in an era of a certain Slovenian star who may just be the greatest rider we have ever seen. Still, Pidcock and Onley could still win a grand tour, and Ferguson might be the rider to get most excited about.

But visibility is everything, as without it, greatness is just data. Just numbers in a results sheet.