What is happening at the INEOS Grenadiers? Steve Cummings seemingly removed from Deutschland Tour as uncertainty continues regarding sports director's future
Cycling
Things are not completely settled behind the scenes at the INEOS Grenadiers. Seemingly feeling the brunt of the disharmony, sports director Steve Cummings continues to be left out of races.
Cummings, a former Tour de France stage winner in his own right, led the team's sports director at the 2023 Tour de France and was featured heavily in season 2 of Netflix's 'Tour de France: Unchained' documentary. In the show however, the Brit was seen to be at loggerheads with the team's star rider Tom Pidcock and soon after the documentary dropped, it was announced Cummings would not join the team at the Tour de France in 2024.
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After the news of Cummings omission for the 2024 Tour de France was confirmed, Pidcock was quoted by Cycling Weekly as saying things would be "better" for the team without Cummings present. More recently, Christian Knees was then revealed as the lead DS at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana.
Now, despite the expectation that Cummings who be at the helm of the INEOS Grenadiers in the Deutschland Tour, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. "Cummings is no longer listed as a DS for the Lidl Deutschland Tour. He was on Friday and this was meant to be his first race back for the team," reports the respected cycling journalist Daniel Benson.
The question now is, what is going on behind the scenes at the INEOS Grenadiers? Recently, key staff member Dan Bigham quit abruptly and pulled no punches in his explanation afterwards. "How I want to do performance is not particularly aligned with how INEOS wanted to go about it," the Brit, who has proven expertise in time trial and aerodynamic development told The Telegraph. “I feel that a lot of performance we’re leaving on the table and that frustrates me because it’s clear as day we should be doing things a lot better. Let’s be honest, INEOS are not where they want to be, not where they need to be and the gap is not small.” Clearly, all is not well.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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🚨Latest on Steve Cummings and Ineos Grenadiers. Cummings is no longer listed as a DS for the Lidl Deutschland Tour. He was on Friday and this was meant to be his first race back for the team.
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