"The probable next Grand Tour winners are going to come through at a very young age" - INEOS Grenadiers try to get 'ahead of the curve' to build next Tour de France-winning team

In the past, INEOS Grenadiers was ahead of the curve on all World Tour teams when it came to signing and developing Grand Tour winners. In the 2020's this stopped being the case, and the British team got far behind the likes of UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Now, INEOS' new management is focused on turning this around.

"We can't speculate about any investment coming into the team and who is going to be part of our future. Our CEO John Allert has said publicly that we're looking for investment and we'll continue to do that," team performance director Scott Drawer shared with Cyclingnews.

"We're focused on what the team needs and what's going to help us win Grand Tours again. We would look at all the candidates. There's a number of other riders that may be available in 2026 or 2027, we keep a good eye on them and talk with the right people at the right time."

The British team, currently being heavily linked with TotalEnergies which could bring further financial investment next season - besides the potential connections with Specialized and Canyon as new bike sponsors - saw many of it's former leaders depart in a matter of a few years such as Tom Pidcock, Dylan van Baarle, Richard Carapaz, Adam Yates, Daniel Martínez, Richie Porte and Tao Geoghegan Hart. They did not manage to replace them with new faces capable of achieving the same results.

The team began to lack in the signing of new talents, whereas rival teams attacked the market aggressively. This ultimately led to a difficulty in matching them in the most recent seasons, and disputes within the management saw further staff leave last year. Now however, there is clearly a new mentality within the team, not only in the present but also looking towards it's future.

"In our view, the probable next Grand Tour winners are going to come through at a very young age, like Tadej Pogacar did and like Isaac del Toro looks set to do. So I think our most critical focus is getting the whole pathway right, I think that's what's going to set the team up for the future," Drawer prioritizes. "You can look at existing talent that's out there but I definitely think emerging talent will be the future."

So INEOS' focus could become the signing of the best young talents in the market. "We have some exceptional GC talent in the team, as well as some younger talent that's going to come through very soon. They're only going to go in one direction. Of course, athlete development is not quite a linear process. Riders can surprise you how quickly they're developing, look at Isaac del Toro. Sometimes you may not need to go to the market because you have the talent already on board."

Not only when it comes to transfers, but in other aspects of the sport, the team wants to start new positive changes instead of having to constantly close gaps to their rivals. "It's about how we're going to get ahead of the curve. There's no point in copying, because everyone will already have moved ahead. We spent a lot of time last year and over the winter being a lot more objective about the change in trends and patterns in the sport.

"One of the emerging trends, which is not rocket science, is the increase in solo wins and long-range attacks thanks to nutrition and riders like Tadej Pogacar. So in response, you've got to have the physical preparation to be able to execute that, which changes the way you train and prepare for major races," he concluded .