"Tom Pidcock is a generational talent" - Ineos DS confirms the team has long-term plans to fight for GC at Grand tours with Pidcock
Cycling
Tom Pidcock's personal ambitions and the vision of INEOS Grenadiers. The cooperation can go either way in coming years as it's becoming clear the two sides won't unanimously agree in everything. In years to come, it'll become essential, more than ever, to find the right balance between their interests. Steve Cummings whose relationship with Pidcock is said to be very good, could play an important role of a mediator, but his status in INEOS was also debated after his removal from Tour staff.
Performance Director Scott Drawer chatted about both members of the Ineos family with Cyclingnews. He insisted that both Pidcock and Head of Racing Cummings will play a key role in the next era of Ineos Grenadiers (refers to a founding of a new U23 team in near future), despite the Netflix Tour de France documentary highlighting tension between the two and Cummings being left at home from this year's race.
Clearly, Pidcock is seen as a key part of the team’s Grand Tour group, alongside Carlos Rodríguez and Egan Bernal. The 24-year-old already showed glimpses of his true potential in the mountains (for example by winning the Alpe d'Huez stage in 2022). But there's still a lot of work to do to become a challenger for the likes of Tadej Pogacar.
"Tom Pidcock is contracted with us until the end of 2027 so none of that's going to change. He's a generational talent," Drawer said. "A long-term aspiration for Tom will be fighting for the GC and I think he wants that as well. We look forward to supporting him on that mission. He's definitely got a key role in the team in the long-term future."
Drawer confirmed that Steve Cummings has a senior management role in the team despite being left at home from this year’s Tour de France. "Absolutely," Drawer made clear. "Steve's role is Director of Racing and so is much more significant than just being on a race. Zak Dempster is 'lead DS' for this Tour but Steve and I are working on a number of strategic projects already for rider recruitment for 2026."
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- 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
Loading
5 Comments