"Team Circus continues" - British commentator very critical of INEOS Grenadiers' repeated mishaps
Cycling
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".
Read also
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".
Read also
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.
claps 5visitors 5
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- 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 forRafionain-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
Loading
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.
2 Comments