INEOS Grenadiers chasing Grand Tour podium with Egan Bernal & Carlos Rodriguez in 2025: "We also have young talents in the waiting room who may surprise us"

There's no doubt that the INEOS Grenadiers are not the force they once were in the peloton. Despite expectations lessening in recent years though, the team remains intent on competing at the pointy end of the sport's biggest races, most notable among them, the three Grand Tours.

"Although that is not an easy task against two top riders like Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, plus Remco Evenepoel who is growing," admits INEOS Grenadiers sports director, Zak Dempster in conversation with HLN.

As such, the definition of success at a Grand Tour may have changed slightly for the once all-conquering INEOS Grenadiers. “We try to do as well as possible and chase the podium,” says Performance Director Scott Drawer, naming Egan Bernal and Carlos Rodriguez as the most notable contenders. “Egan had a difficult comeback after his heavy crash in 2022, but he made big steps forward again this winter. Carlos won the Tour de Romandie last year, but was unable to continue that top form in the Tour and later also the Vuelta after a covid infection.”

"We are confident that both can take a step forward this year and we also have young talents in the waiting room who could surprise," continues Drawer. "Bernal, Pogacar and Vingegaard were also inexperienced when they immediately performed top in their first Grand Tour."

The long and the short of it is relatively simple for INEOS in 2025 though. "We have to win more races," says DS Kurt-Asle Arvesen, with more than just the Grand Tours in the mind of the team leaders for the coming year.

“Filippo Ganna got an extra coach in the team around him and we are convinced that he can take a new step in a post-Olympic year. We see him capable of winning stages in grand tours, which are not time trials,” adds CEO John Allert. “We also hope that Joshua Tarling can perform in the cobbled classics, but we don't want to skip any steps in his process. The same goes for Axel Laurance in the hilly classics. Axel is a great talent and also an asset in terms of atmosphere. He is very ambitious and dreams of winning Milan-Sanremo and Amstel, but let him start by trying to win a stage in Ster van Bessèges. Together with nine other riders Axel is now on altitude training in Tenerife to start the season in good condition... We are convinced that in 2024 we will have laid the foundations for 2025.”