"When we went downhill, he was consistently last down. Really, really last." - Picnic PostNL DS on the remarkable growth of Oscar Onley

One of the biggest revelations of this Tour de France, 4th overall Oscar Onley had quite an unusual path to becoming a professional. Although his potential was not unknown to scouts since junior age, it's taken until the age of 20 for the Scot to finally break out of his shell and show the whole cycling world what he was capable of. Within half a year, Onley went from unknown rider to against then Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard at CRO Race in October. It was the small things that held him back for so long.

"He knows he's good at certain things, but also that he struggled with things like positioning and descending," Picnic PostNL sports director Rudi Kemna told Wieler Revue. "He's always been a good climber, but in my opinion, his strongest point is his perseverance and eagerness to learn. It's in his nature to want to improve, which makes it easy for him to push himself outside his comfort zone."

His improvement in all these important aspects of cycling have immediately reflected in Onley's results in his second year as under-23 rider. From there, it did not take long to turn professional with Picnic PostNL in 2023.

"Now he arrives at every climb without having to work too hard, whereas in the past he might have climbed from eighty to twentieth place. Now he starts the climb in twenty place."

"I remember the first time I met him at a training camp in Calpe. We went up into the hills with the development team. He could immediately keep up with the best climbers, but when we went downhill, he was consistently last down. Really, really last. When he started working with a downhill coach, there were also times when he thought: I'll never learn."

The breaking point has been when Onley understood that he can race against the best. "But when he saw success, his confidence grew. When that happened, his drive suddenly accelerated his development. Oscar has made great strides in the last three years."