INEOS Grenadiers mechanic reveals details from within the team: "A lot of them still talk about the Team Sky days"
Cycling
It’s safe to say INEOS are undergoing one of their most challenging periods. After a 2024 filled with disappointment, the off season so far has been filled with transfer rumours, and managerial changes. Just yesterday, we reported Chris Froome’s belief that the INEOS Grenadiers are an entirely different team to Team Sky, where he dominated grand tours in the 2010s.
One team mechanic, Rune Kristensen, recently spoke to Ekstra Bladet about his experience working for the team, and he explained the magnitude of the current change. “During our team outing in Manchester, all the newcomers had to stand up during dinner. I think six or seven riders stood up, but maybe thirty members of staff.”
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In any sporting scenario, or in fact any working scenario, that much managerial change could spell trouble. But maybe, this is necessary to fix the underperforming INEOS Grenadiers.
“A lot of people left because they didn't believe that this team could do better and that new things were good. A lot of them still talk about the Team Sky days. One of the reasons we're getting beat now is because other teams have figured out how to beat Team Sky. It's not cool when people get fired, but in top-level sport it's part of it. It could happen to me one day.”
Despite this, Kristensen remains adamant that the atmosphere within the team is strong, and they are working to turn around their form next season. “The atmosphere in the team has always been one of the best, it is a very good group. I think the team is also in the right place for next year.
"It has not worked this season, but the management has not panicked and is now back in control. I do not pay too much attention to all the stories, because I feel good here. There is clearly something going on, but for me it does not matter whether I work for Tom Pidcock or Carlos Rodriguez.”
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- And you missed that I wasn’t contradicting but enhancing or adding to the discussion :-) I am surprised MJ made it that far without some of this having been picked up earlier. To further make my point, yes, by all means correct/improve anything that you can later in life but like disease, think of prevention before asking for cures, even in cycling a lot is crucial at the early stages but unfortunately, unlike athletics, cycling is a sport that rarely takes (youth) coaching seriously, if at all, it’s basically each to himself and we’ll pick the better ones once there’s enough development. About the only thing young cyclists get forced to learn is to ride with high cadence and that isn’t even coach induced but almost institutionalised. And as I tried to imply, no matter how much you perfect technique, we are all absolutely unique in our mechanical motions, you just have to watch the posture and strides of runners to note how dissimilar each is, and a crucial point to always remember is that by trying to force a better technique you may gain something somewhere but lose more elsewhere, you have to know whether it leaves you « comfortably within your natural boundaries « , eg, no point to improve your saddle position for more aerodynamicity if you’re going to have to ride uncomfortably for hours coz your mental state will drag more on your performance than your aerodynamics gain.Mistermaumau30-12-2024
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