No Steve Cummings at Vuelta a Espana as INEOS Grenadiers disharmony behind the scenes continues

Whilst on the bike, the INEOS Grenadiers have had a solid if unspectacular year so far in 2024, behind the scenes, things have been a lot more tumultuous. This disharmony is seemingly still ongoing as Steve Cummings has been left out of the team's Vuelta a Espana sports director lineup.  

Cummings led the team at the 2023 Tour de France and was featured heavily in season 2 of Netflix's 'Tour de France: Unchained' documentary. In the show however, the Brit, a former stage winner at the Tour in his own right, was seen to be at loggerheads with the team's star rider Tom Pidcock and soon after the documentary dropped, it was announced Cummings would not join the team at the Tour de France in 2024.

Both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France campaigns for the INEOS Grenadiers were instead led by sports director Zak Dempster. For the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, Cycling Weekly reports that Christian Knees heads up the British-based team's backroom staff, meaning no Grand Tour at all for Cummings this campaign.

In truth, INEOS Grenadiers poor showing at the 2024 Tour de France, failing to win a stage at cycling's most watched race for the first time since 2014, hardly vindicated the decision to drop Cummings. With the experienced Brit again absent in Spain, the team will be hoping for a better showing at this Grand Tour.