“Today we show that the work pays off” – INEOS teamwork launches Kevin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley into Paris-Nice GC fight

INEOS Grenadiers delivered the standout performance of Stage 3 at Paris-Nice, claiming victory in the 23.5-kilometre team time trial and transforming the early general classification picture in the process.

The British squad edged their rivals by the narrowest of margins after a blistering ride through the rolling terrain around Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, but the real consequence of the stage was the sudden emergence of two genuine GC cards within the team. By the end of the day, Kevin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley sat second and third overall respectively, just seconds behind new race leader Juan Ayuso.

For Vauquelin, the result was another indication that the team’s growing emphasis on time trial performance is beginning to yield results. “Today we show that the work pays off,” he said after the stage in conversation with Cycling Pro Net. “The team works enormously on this aspect. It was a very important point for me when I decided to join the team, the time trial.”

The Frenchman pointed to the collective effort behind the performance, emphasising that the result was not an isolated success but part of a broader progression within the squad. “It does the team good to show that even in team time trials, we can be at the front.”

The stage itself unfolded as one of the most competitive team time trials seen in the race in recent years. Early benchmark times from squads such as Groupama-FDJ United and UAE Team Emirates - XRG set the pace before INEOS produced a perfectly balanced effort across the technical opening kilometres and the undulating final sector.

The plan had been to keep a strong group together over the final rise of the course before the descent to the finish. In the end, that strategy almost worked exactly as intended. “We wanted to try to come over the final climb with four riders,” Onley explained in his own post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net. “In the end, it was the three of us.”

Those three riders included the British climber himself, Vauquelin and the powerful presence of Joshua Tarling, whose long pulls earlier in the stage helped establish the team’s advantage.

From there the final kilometres became a matter of survival and execution. “I was just hanging on on that downhill to the line,” Onley admitted.

Yet despite the pressure of the moment, the team’s preparation proved decisive. “A team time trial is really different from an individual one,” he said. “It’s something the team has focused on a lot this year. It’s an important factor in a lot of the big races this season, so we’ve put a big emphasis on it.”

Behind the scenes, that focus has extended well beyond the riders themselves. “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that people don’t see. So it’s really nice to be able to finish it off for them as well.”

For Vauquelin, the decisive moments of the stage were as much psychological as physical. “I was mostly nervous before the start,” he admitted.

Once the effort began, however, that tension faded. “After that I wasn’t especially worried. I felt really good today. I think I managed to pull the team well.”

The most delicate moment arrived late in the race when the group began to fragment, and contact with Tarling briefly looked uncertain. “Oscar and I were a bit concerned when we started to lose contact with Joshua,” Vauquelin explained. “But we managed to keep going.”

From there the Frenchman focused on squeezing every last second out of the closing metres. “I tried to finish as fast as possible and I think it paid off, because it was very, very close in the end.”

The final margin underlined that point. INEOS edged the stage victory by just a handful of seconds, a difference that would prove decisive both for the stage result and for the reshuffling of the GC.

While the stage win was significant, the bigger tactical consequence lies in the race standings.

Ayuso now leads the race, but only by the slimmest of margins. Vauquelin sits second overall at two seconds, with Onley just one second further back. Behind them, riders such as Daan Hoole and Jonas Vingegaard remain close enough to keep the overall contest wide open.

For Onley, that situation provides valuable strategic flexibility heading into the decisive stages. “Paris-Nice is a different kind of climbing race compared to some others during the year,” he said. “It’s not just about the legs, especially with the parcours this year.”

Weather and race dynamics have historically played a major role in shaping the outcome of the Race to the Sun, something the young Brit is well aware of. “There can be a lot of opportunities, and the weather often plays a big role as well. So it’s always good to have options for the harder days.”

The team’s ride also came despite an early scare during the reconnaissance of the course. “We had a crash during the recon,” Onley revealed. “It was wet, and we found the limits a bit this morning. But it was good to bounce back from that.”

For Vauquelin, however, the result is only the beginning of the real test. “I think now we’ve really arrived at the real Paris-Nice,” he said.

The Frenchman expects the race to become far more selective as the terrain grows tougher and the weather conditions potentially deteriorate. “For me, bad weather isn’t something that will bother me. It might even suit me. The most important thing will be to see where I stand on the longer and more punchy climbs.”

With such narrow margins separating the leading riders, the coming stages promise to be decisive. “A time trial is never quite the same as racing in those conditions,” Vauquelin added. “But we have a good team and a good mindset at the moment, so we just have to keep going in the same direction.”

After their dominant performance in the team time trial, INEOS Grenadiers have placed themselves firmly at the centre of the Paris-Nice battle. Whether through Vauquelin, Onley or the broader depth of their squad, the British team now carries two powerful cards into the decisive days of the race.