'A tough start to the season' — Oscar Onley out of Romandie with stomach bug

Tadej Pogačar arrived at the Tour de Romandie as the overwhelming favourite — but Oscar Onley had been firmly on the list of outsiders. The INEOS Grenadiers rider did not make it to the finish on Wednesday, and later that evening he explained why.

2026 had been a promising year for Onley so far. The 23-year-old, who joined INEOS Grenadiers from Picnic PostNL over the winter, made his debut for the team at the Tour of the Algarve and finished an impressive fourth overall. Paris-Nice was next — but stage four brought disaster. Caught up in a chaotic crosswind stage, Onley crashed just as he had positioned himself well in the front split, losing significant time in the general classification. He finished 12th the following day, then did not start stage six.

After a brief recovery, Onley was back at the start of the Tour of Catalonia just ten days later, ultimately finishing 12th overall. Solid rather than spectacular — but understood to be preparation for bigger targets later in the year. The Tour de Romandie was to be the next step.

'Some kind of stomach bug' forces Onley out of Romandie

A 79th place in the prologue hinted that something was already wrong. A day later, in the first road stage — won by Pogačar — Onley was dropped early and never made it to the finish. The explanation came via his Instagram.

"Gutted to leave the Tour de Romandie after some kind of stomach bug over the past few days. It's been a tough start to the season if I'm honest," he wrote.

"It's hard not to feel like I've let a lot of people down after all the time and investment from everyone at INEOS Grenadiers. I'm looking forward to the next goals and will be back soon."