“It’s quite surprising, all the stuff that was written" - Steve Cummings insists he never had an issue with Tom Pidcock at INEOS

Things rather surprisingly fell apart for Steve Cummings at the INEOS Grenadiers midway through the 2024 season. After spending the latter half of the year out of the team and on gardening leave basically, the British DS is set for a fresh start in 2025 at Team Jayco AlUla.

According to the speculation of the time, a big reason for Cummings being side-lined ahead of the Tour de France was a falling out behind the scenes with INEOS Grenadiers' star rider Tom Pidcock (who has also since left for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team ed.). Opening up on his INEOS Grenadiers departure in conversation with Cycling Weekly though, Cummings insists he and Pidcock have never had any serious issues. 

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“On a personal level, I never had a problem [with him] and haven’t got one,” Cummings explains at his new squad’s media day, noting the Tour de France: Unchained documentary and the reaction to his and Pidcock's involvement in season 2. “It’s quite surprising, all the stuff that was written. It’s all smoke really. What was on Netflix, that was it. There was never anything else.”

“The team decided to take me off the race. Like when you’re not selected as a rider, it’s just a decision you respect,” he continues. “I guess they thought it was in the best interest of the team. And then you start to look elsewhere.”

“I think there are obviously moments when it’s frustrating, but you just try to be resilient, accept it and move on,” Cummings adds. “I just thought I’d continue with the team. It wasn’t until sort of October, then I decided [it was] better to change."

And in the end, that change turned out to be with Team Jayco AlUla. That's not to say Cummings doesn't look back fondly on his highlights at INEOS. “G[eraint] did third behind Vingegaard and Pogačar, Tom Pidcock won a stage [on Alpe d’Huez] which was probably the most beautiful stage win of the Tour. Then the next year, the team won two stages and Carlos [Rodríguez] was fifth, fighting for the podium until the last days when he crashed. That was phenomenal in his first Tour," he recalls. “I’m just grateful to all the riders, staff and everyone who helped us achieve [that]. In my opinion, with all the information I had, we maximised the team.”

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