"It definitely needs a few honest conversations and looking in the mirror" - Geraint Thomas honest about INEOS Grenadiers' struggles but urges team to pull together
CyclingFriday, 13 September 2024 at 11:52
Whilst perhaps not in complete turmoil, things haven't gone completely to plan for the INEOS Grenadiers of late. Some strange transfer business, rumours of inner turmoil and a relative lack of standout wins, one of the team's with the largest budgets in the sport, have been badly underperforming.
Two men who can cast as much light on the situation within the INEOS Grenadiers as any, are the experienced Welsh duo, Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas. On the latest episode of the pair's Watts Occurring Podcast, Rowe and Thomas reflect on some of the struggles ongoing at the British-based team.
"Whilst on the outside, it's a lot of doom and gloom at the moment, what I could say is that I've got belief that the people within this organisation have the belief and passion to get back on top. But, it's a long process," begins Rowe, who retires from a professional career spent entirely at Team Sky/INEOS Grenadiers, when is contract runs out at the conclusion of this season.
"I don't think there's one thing. There's loads of things but they all add up," adds former Tour de France winner and podium finisher at the 2024 Giro d'Italia, Thomas. "I don't think there's one silver bullet that is the reason why we've struggled a bit this year for results, but there's numerous things. I think for now, the main goal should just be, as a team, we need to be the best and the strongest and the most unified. We're in it together, we're all moving in the same direction together and we've got these big goals and aspirations. Just get back to winning some bike races."
"Let's face it, Pog (Tadej Pogacar) and Vingo (Jonas Vingegaard) are going to be hard to topple, but there's still a hell of a lot of other races and there's still a lot of good bike riders in the team as well," Thomas continues. "You can still get a lot of success, it's just been close but no cigar this year a lot of the time. It's just about turning that around a bit, but we've still got the right guys around us to do that. But it definitely needs a few honest conversations and looking in the mirror."
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Barney17-05-2025 - Sometimes I am, you’re right. Seems like a waste of time to live life on the toilet. Do you feel better now you’ve managed to unload some of your frustration on a completely anonymous poster?Mistermaumau17-05-2025
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The top grand tour teams have money, management and riders. Roglic, Pojacar, Vingo, Remco.
The other teams only have money and management. This isn't just Ineos, it's every other team. Sure MVDP, Girmay, Jasper have some decent results, but not the grand tour wins that Ineos seeks.
Ineos' bets on G Thomas, Bernal, Rodriguez, Pidcock and others were admirable, but those riders aren't Pogicar et al.
If Ineos nabbed one of the stars or brought one up via a development team, this article wouldn't have gotten written.
It's interesting that Geraint Thomas is the only one on Ineos Grenadiers who continued to perform at a high level, and obtain credible results. I don't think that there's another rider on the team that's been able to live up to expectations on the road this season.
Ganna has had good results considering his focus on the team pursuit for the Olympics. His team really failed though. I have doubts Ganna wouldn't have had notable wins if he wasn't focusing on the track so much. And while Pidcock didn't have a good year on the road, he's absolutely earned his $4mil on the mountain bike in itself. I also think Thomas could have been on the TdF podium last year if he didn't do the Giro. But I do think he's done contending there and may not be able to get on a Giro podium again in the future
Carlos Rodriguez at 23 has had a good season 2285 UCI points, won Romandie, 2nd in Basque Country, 4th in Dauphine and two GT top tens. After that I am struggling to find anyone else.