No real surprise to see Steve Cummings leave Team Ineos. Must be hard to do your job when gagged for most of the year. One of their biggest assets with be a major boost for any other team.
"Team Circus continues" - British commentator very critical of INEOS Grenadiers' repeated mishaps
CyclingFriday, 08 November 2024 at 10:47
INEOS Grenadiers have had some difficult years, being pushed away from the top of the Grand Tours by a long shot since the appearance of a new generation and new ways to improve performance. The British team is refocusing on new goals and ambitions, but it's hard to forget the disappointments that have come this season and commentator Brian Smith was keen on pointing some of these out - alongside the sport.
"No real surprise to see Steve Cummings leave Team Ineos. Must be hard to do your job when gagged for most of the year. One of their biggest assets with be a major boost for any other team," Smith said in an X post. "Team Circus (he refers to INEOS, ed.) continues, after allowing your marquee rider (Tom Pidcock, ed.) to leave the team while willing to pay 20% of his salary then doing a U-turn to keep him. Not sure this is over. Ivan Glasenberg has invested in Q36.5 and owns Pinarello. A match for Pidcock who was keen on the move".
Smith was very surprised with the outcome of the Pidcock saga, who was removed from the selection for Il Lombardia whilst being the likely leader, and in his opinion the reason was clear: "These decisions were helped my Team Circus pulling Pidcock from Lombardia. Why you may ask? Had the form, thought he could win but did not want to risk paying the high bonus".
Financially speaking, the team continues to have a very large budget, but the riders who take the majority continue with the team and in fact there was no room to make any big signing this winter. Pablo Castrillo could've been an interesting one but the limitation seemed apparent here: "Talking about bonuses. This thwarted the signing of Castrillo from Kern Pharma".
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Smith however was not only upset with how INEOS has dealt with it's problems, but also how modern cycling is changing and is extremely performance-driven all year long. "There is no fun in cycling teams anymore. Science has killed this. Robotic riders and robotic sports directors. Gone are the GRINTA days. Riders now know what they can achieve, what they are up against and turn up at races in a poor mental health state".
"That’s what numbers do to riders. The mental state of a rider is now being left at the side of the road because of the numbers game," he argues. "Altitude, haemoglobin muscle testing, scientists seem to be the way forward. If a rider is not happy then you are flogging a dead horse. This is where a team needs people like Steve Cummings and not more personnel with letters after their name".
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