“We had to use our numerical advantage” - Netcompany INEOS seize Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes GC advantage as Oscar Onley gains early on Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro

Netcompany INEOS left stage 1 of the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with an early general classification gain after turning a tactical finale into a small but useful advantage for Oscar Onley.

Alex Baudin took the opening stage victory and the first yellow jersey after surviving from the breakaway, but the GC story behind him was not entirely neutralised. A late move on the run towards Saint-Ismier split the reduced peloton, with Onley finishing in the first chase group as several of his expected rivals were caught behind.

The gap was not huge, but it was enough to matter on the opening day of an eight-stage WorldTour race.

Onley finished 32 seconds down on Baudin, while Paul Seixas, Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Santiago Buitrago, Matteo Jorgenson and Mattias Skjelmose were among the riders listed at 44 seconds.

Kevin Vauquelin, who was also in the front group, said the move came from patience and positioning rather than panic after Baudin had already gone clear for the stage win. “I put myself behind the group, I waited, and then I went. We had quite a big group go clear with Oscar, so that was perfect,” Vauquelin explained after the stage.

The Frenchman made clear that the sprint for second place was not the priority once the group had opened its gap. With no bonus seconds available, the main objective was protecting the time advantage over those who had missed the move.

“We were racing for second place. I’m not going to say I didn’t sprint full gas, but I didn’t want to lose time. We knew there were no bonus seconds, so the job was done,” he said.

That made the finale a useful first test for Netcompany INEOS. The team did not need to launch a race-breaking attack on the Cote de Rousset, but when the opportunity came after the descent, they were alert enough to put Onley into the right split.

Vauquelin said he was not surprised to see Seixas and Del Toro caught behind in the final kilometres. “It was a race situation. We knew it was going to be a tactical finale. We had to use our numerical advantage, we were three. We played it the way we needed to. For now it’s okay, we’ll see over the next few days...”

The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is still at its earliest stage, with the hardest mountain days and the team time trial still to come. Even so, stage 1 already gave Netcompany INEOS something tangible to work with.

Onley has started his GC campaign ahead of Seixas, Del Toro, Ayuso, Jorgenson and Skjelmose, while Vauquelin’s comments made clear that the split was not just a lucky accident in the finale.

Baudin took the headline victory, but Netcompany INEOS also left Saint-Ismier with one of the more encouraging opening-day outcomes among the GC teams.