"I've gone all in for this Vuelta and didn't make the cut" - Luke Rowe 'f*cking gutted' to miss out on INEOS Grenadiers selection
Cycling
Geraint Thomas will be hoping to challenge for the Red Jersey over the coming weeks at the Vuelta a Espana. One man who won't be joining him however is his fellow Welshman and 'Watts Occurring' podcast partner, Luke Rowe.
"I'll tell you what's not occurring, me joining you on a lap of Spain mate," says the vastly experienced, 33-year-old, Rowe, getting straight into the story on the latest episode of the INEOS Grenadiers duo's entertaining podcast.
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Rowe has previously been road captain for both the INEOS Grenadiers and under their previous guise of Team Sky with multiple Grand Tour victories under his belt and the Welshman had hoped to try and take another although this disappointment now means Rowe will not ride a Grand Tour in 2023.
"I've noticed you've had a haircut as well," Thomas quips before Rowe explains his disappointment. "I've gone all in for this Vuelta and didn't make the cut. I said to you before didn't I that it's a bit like that Homer Simpson emoji where he's walking back into the hedge and says 'nope'."
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"I'm pretty f*cking gutted actually," he continues. "I think for the last four months it's been all towards this. You know I've raced and I've trained really well but maybe it's a bit of my naivety really that I thought I was more in the door than I really was."
"You have setbacks in life and in sport don't you? But I think what you've got to remember is it's a bike race. Let's keep things in context," Rowe concludes. "That being said. A career is full of highs and lows and you can be going really well, looking forward to great things and then the next moment told 'you can't do them'."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Typical honesty from Luke on this week's pod as he reveals why he won't be joining G at the Vuelta
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