Netcompany INEOS set to sign two proven winners currently racing the Tour de France
CyclingFriday, 24 July 2026 at 11:50
The transfer market is buzzing with activity during the Tour de France. Netcompany INEOS go into stage 19 with very little to show for in this race, despite the heavy investment in it, but the British team is reportedly signing two riders that are currently taking part in it.
Michael Valgren jumps from EF Education
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the British team has struck a deal with two riders currently at the Grand Boucle. The first of which is Michael Valgren, part of EF Education-EasyPost. The Danish rider is 34 years old and is in contract year with the American team.
Valgren is part of EF since 2021, but has been racing at a World Tour level since 2014, meaning he will bring in a heap of experience towards his new team. His nationality might be a key part of this deal, as the team's new title sponsor Netcompany is of Danish origin and as it stands, the team only has 20-year old Peter Oxenberg as a member of their Danish block.
The former Amstel Gold Race and Omloop het Nieuwsblad winner has had a year of redemption, returning to his best level in 2026 whre he has already achieved two wins. These were not low level wins, the classics specialist is a notorious breakaway hunter and on Tirreno-Adriatico, he won stage 5 to Mombaroccio.
And then at the Giro d'Italia he once again struck gold, winning a stage with a similar profile on the 17th day to Andalo. Despite the heavy spring calendar, Valgren was still selected to race the Tour de France, where he was present in four breakaways up until stage 19.
Michael Valgren at the Giro d'Italia
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Can Harold Tejada be INEOS' new GC bet?
Harold Tejada of XDS Astana Team is also reported by the Belgian news outlet to be joining INEOS. Astana are set to have a few changes in their top positions this winter and one such is the departure of the Colombian rider, currently 29 years of age.
He joined the World Tour in 2020 and has been part of the Kazakh team ever since, steadily evolving into a rider who is currently an interesting stage hunter and also stage-racer.
This year Tejada was fourth at the UAE Tour and at Paris-Nice he took a breakthrough victory with a late attack on stage 6 to Apt. He was 10th in GC there, however third on both stages 5 and 8 which were marked by their difficulty.
Tejada is racing the current Tour de France without GC ambitions after a modest start to the race, and on stage 13 he was close to achieving his first ever Grand Tour win; finishing second to Mauro Schmid in Belfort.
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