OPINION: Netcompany INEOS' Tour de France was a disaster, and that did not come as a surprise
CyclingThursday, 30 July 2026 at 14:00
Netcompany INEOS has a budget of €50 million and very little to show for at the Tour de France. The British team has failed to net any meaningful result at the sport's greatest event, and the management is to blame for its poor decisions in tactics and team selection, and the team's own contradictions.
It is not my first criticism of the British team, as I believe several decisions have been made against the team's best interests. From the inside, these decisions are more complex than what we can see from the outside. But simultaneously, there are several changes that could've been done to pursue their goals throughout the Tour de France.
After retiring from the sport in 2025, Geraint Thomas turned into INEOS' director of racing at INEOS. He is the man that after the finish of each stage, many journalists will move towards so as to get insight from.
In Barcelona, I was next to 'G' following the team time trial. The team finished second, coming close to the maillot jaune with Filippo Ganna; but having been riddled by bad luck as Kévin Vauquelin had suffered a puncture.
These punctures were also a constant during the Tour, as has been the case in the classics. On more than one occasions - Paris-Roubaix being the prime example - these punctures have gotten in the way of Ganna's goals.
A controversial selection
The problems began in early June. The plan was clear: All-out GC run. Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin would be the leaders after their fourth and seventh overall places at the 2025 edition. A solid plan, it would be hard to improve on it, but the podium was possible.
Onley crashed in Auvergne - Rhône, suffering a shoulder luxation and several bruises after almost falling down a ravine. In the same week, Vauquelin fell ill and had a poor display in Auvergne.
The team was in big trouble, as Vauquelin was also not a climber at the level of the natural podium contenders to begin with. Onley's absence was eventually confirmed whilst Vauquelin remained in the lineup but without GC ambitions.
The team had Carlos Rodríguez, sixth in the queen stage of Auvergne, as a potential GC outsider. Above all, as the team's strongest climbing option for the Tour, to pursue a stage win. He was removed from the lineup.
The team selected both Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal from the Giro d'Italia, two men who did not start the race with the form that Jonas Vingegaard had. A recently injured Joshua Tarling was kept in the lineup despite the presence of Filippo Ganna - both riders would aim for the very same stages; whilst the team replaced Rodríguez with Tobias Foss so as to aim for the team time trial.
Dorian Godon as the sprinter and Michal Kwiatkowski as the road captain completed the lineup - both riders failed to make an impact throughout the three weeks.
Oscar Onley's crash at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes snowballed into a disaster
GC ambitions for a pure stage-hunting team
The goal at the start was changed, but clear: Going for stage wins. "For now, winning is what counts for us and we are targeting stages. We do not want to be passengers in the race, but protagonists, and we will race with that outlook and mentality," Thomas said before the race.
Was that the plan then implemented on the road? Despite losing over 3 minutes at the team time trial, Egan Bernal battled to limit losses on stages 2 and 3 as the race started. Thymen Arensman did the same.
After three days of racing, Thomas speech was already different: "Is a general classification finish still possible? I’d rather focus on the stages. You can experience so much more that way. And we already have Thymen [Arensman], who’s here for the general classification".
On stage 6, Thymen Arensman cracked on the Col du Tourmalet and was no longer an option for the overall classification. Bernal had a strong performance and finished 11th on the road, climbing to 11th in the overall classification as well.
Whilst the Dutchman didn't have the form, Bernal's goal became the GC. He stayed there all the way up to stage 15, when he also cracked out of overall contention. Both riders spent vast resources chasing the overall classification which had no benefit to the team and did not have much to begin with; whilst sacrificing opportunities to be in the breakaway and energy that would be valuable once both began truly putting their priority in what was supposed to be the initial goal of the team.
Both Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal raced for the GC at the Tour de France
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Riders out of form during the Tour de France
The presence of Kévin Vauquelin at the Tour is mostly justified by the fact that he is French and had a strong result the year prior. As a stage hunter, Vauquelin's skillset is quite good - as a strong climber, puncheur and even a man with a fast finish.
But the 25-year old was never in his best form. He was sixth on both stages 4 and 13, designated breakaway days that featured some climbing, but also flat finishes where he stood little chance of winning. Without the form to make the difference on the climbs, chances were never high and these were the only two days of the race where Vauquelin was in contention for a result.
Foss' presence at the race was never justified whilst even Kwiatkowski's could be questioned. Although he is a road captain and experienced figure, plenty other riders at INEOS stood better chances of winning a stage, as at this point in his career he is a domestique - in a race where supposedly, the team didn't need domestiques but men to go on breakaways.
The most shocking case perhaps is Joshua Tarling, a rider who was brought to the Tour only weeks after fracturing a collarbone, and a rider who had to nurse a cracked rib throughout the entire race.
"You just have like a rev limiter, you know? I get to the point where I get out of breath, and then I can’t get it back," Tarling said during his battle for survival. INEOS consciously selected him knowing the Briton was physically limited and quite literally injured.
"It hurts when I breathe. With the heat as well, obviously you’re breathing harder and the pain’s catching up. It just feels airless."
Kévin Vauquelin was one of the surprises of the 2025 Tour, and disappointments of the 2026 race
A route not suited to INEOS' leaders
At the team time trial, both Filippo Ganna and Joshua Tarling did their work. But one most wonder on why both riders were selected. Ganna, a world-class time trialist, can do more than that as on occasion he is a strong sprinter whilst also thriving on the classics terrain.
The Italian didn't often show his best legs, but pursued success in the way you'd expect him to. Then you have the injured Tarling next to him, who will focus also on the team time trial and then the individual time trial. The Briton already had a rider of his kind in the lineup, INEOS did not need two specially in a time trial that featured climbing, descending, and simply didn't offer the Briton chances of winning.
The two were 10th and 11th in the individual time trial, far from fighting for the win, in a battle that was contested between the overall classification contenders.
"Obviously this Tour has been a bit of a struggle at times, but I think when you look back at the season as whole, we’re definitely moving in the right direction," Thomas said after stage 18. "There are a lot of positives, it’s exciting. I just want to keep going now". In the final weekend, there was no positive outcome for the team, who was completely absent from the action in the mountain stages.
At the end of the day a Tour with nothing to show for. For a team with a €50 million budget, only topped or matched by UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe (the teams that filled out the entire podium, won two jerseys and won eight stages combined), it not only is no match; it is simply an entire different category. A rough race to come back from, the British team will hope for a strong Vuelta a España to return to the top steps.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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