Geraint Thomas brutally honest about Netcompany INEOS's disastrous 2026 Tour de France: 'It sort of splits the team'
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Follow us on GoogleGeraint Thomas’s first year as Head of Racing at Netcompany INEOS was far from perfect. The former Tour de France winner was part of the 21st Century’s most successful cycling outfit as a rider, but he is the first to admit that the Team Sky dynasty has fallen far. Reflecting on his first year in team management, he pulled no punches, especially when it came to the 2026 Tour de France.
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Thomas enjoyed huge success as a rider with Team Sky and INEOS Grenadiers
Netcompany INEOS started the 2026 Tour de France on the back foot
Thomas and former teammate Luke Rowe continued their 2026 season autopsy on their podcast Watts Occuring. The British pair focused on 2026’s Grand Tours, especially the Tour de France, and what went wrong for Netcompany INEOS.
“Multiple leaders were big talk in our team at the start of this year,” began Thomas. “How are we going to do three leaders? Get to the tour, mate. You don't have any leaders!”
Netcompany INEOS suffered misfortune after misfortune in the run up to the 2026 Tour de France. Leadership hopefuls Oscar Onley, Kevin Vauquelin and Carlos Rodriguez fell like dominoes to injury or sickness.
A lack of clear leader caused friction in the INEOS team
“My main takeaway from it was, yes, we had a lot of bad luck. We didn't have a GC guy, so we were going for stages. But I think the hard thing then is when you have eight guys who are told we're going for stages. It sort of splits the team.” explained Thomas.
“That's going to make it sound like they're all against each other, which they weren't,” he clarified. “But… when you have a leader, everyone gets behind him. When everyone's on a par, you got eight guys thinking: ‘oh, I’ve got my stage in two days time. Like, what am I doing today?’ There's a bit more ambiguity in there.”
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Ganna rode the Tour de France for Netcompany INEOS, but left the team soon afterwards
Worst Tour de France ever for the Team Sky franchise
Thomas and Rowe had already discussed the differences between Netcompany INEOS and the Team Sky era in a previous podcast. Thomas even went as far as to claim the current INEOS team is “starting at 20 percent of where we used to be. And you can’t just jump from 20 to 80 percent.”
And he didn’t mince his words again when evaluating the 2026 Tour de France: “You take the Tour in isolation, it’s probably the worst tour we've had.”
A damning indictment of where Netcompany INEOS is currently at, then. Former Team Sky road captain Rowe laid out the team’s failures for all to see: “The best guy in GC was Egan [Bernal] in 20th. No stage win. They're in the break for five days, but couldn't quite turn that into a win. ‘Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,’” said Rowe.
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Egan Bernal was Netcompany INEOS's best 2026 Tour de France finished in 20th
Thomas takes some positives from the 2026 season
“I think if you take that helicopter view of the season as a whole, I think it was a progression and there's a lot of learnings, but the team's moving forward.”
“Everyone's super motivated to carry on and we can take a lot of positives and continue that growth and everything and all the things we're doing in the background. And I think a positive as well out of it was how they kind of bounced back.”
Oscar Onley’s determination impressed Thomas
ONe bright spot for Thomas at the tailend of the year was Oscar Onley’s performance at the 2026 Vuelta a España.
“He had a rough year really, didn't he? Crashes, a bit of sickness, obviously missing the Tour. He wanted a lot from the year and it could have easily just been written off, but he got his head down, worked hard again and got back in shape for Burgos. He went to the Vuelta, won the white jersey, I think the first Brit to do that, and got sixth on GC. He had his ups and downs in the race as well but rode through it well.”- Geraint Thomas on Oscar Onley
Onley’s resilience and flexibility stood out for Thomas: “After the Dauphine, when he when the call was made, it was like, right, get healthy first and then all we want to do is end the season on a positive, consistent note really. What does that look like?” he recalls.
“It ended up being, let's go to the Vuelta. And just finishing the Vuelta was an aim as well. Of course he wanted a bit more out of it, a higher place, but he's an ambitious, competitive guy. That was great to see, but I think he definitely learnt a hell of a lot from that.
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Oscar Onley crashed hard in the second week of the Vuelta a España, on his way to 6th
Vuelta performance confirms the need for a clear leader at INEOS
The Team Sky/INEOS success story has always been built around the need for a clear leader. Whether it was Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Thomas himself, or Egan Bernal—the British outfit needs a leader. And Onley’s Vuelta performance proves that for Thomas.
“I think the vibe as well in that team was just unreal. It goes to show, like I said before, when you’ve got a leader that everyone [can get behind]. When you go on that start line and you know ‘if we do everything we can, he's going to be up there and he's going to be fighting for the win’, and that’s all you need.” concluded the Welshman.
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David Bavin-HobbsChief Editor
David has been working in the sports & cycling industry for 16 years. Covering racing, business and technology, he has worked in communications for cycling companies, teams, and as a journalist. His proudest achievement is winning the first bike race he ever entered. He hasn't won a race since.
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Latest Comments
- Eight riders told to go for stages, and nobody gets one—hard to know what the plan was there. It’ll be interesting to see whether they pick a clear leader next time.bikebuffj10-11-2026
- Was Bernal’s 20th place really their best GC result? I thought he might have finished higher. Either way, it sounds like a rough Tour for the whole team.gearguru3310-11-2026
- Five days in breaks with no stage win is a painful stat. The team had chances, but they need to turn those opportunities into results.julien10-11-2026
- The Onley Vuelta example makes sense: a team with someone to rally around often looks much more cohesive. Hopefully INEOS can build on that rather than expecting a quick return to the Sky years.cadencekingm10-11-2026
- Thomas is right about the ambiguity. Eight riders all chasing stages can end up pulling in different directions, even if nobody’s deliberately working against anyone. They need a clearer plan once the GC leaders are out.robert6510-11-2026
- What a mess. The report makes it sound as though nobody properly explained the decision, and that’s hard to defend.jennifer1910-11-2026
- I’m still learning the rules: does moving left in a sprint automatically bring a penalty, or does it depend on whether the other rider is blocked? It sounds like Brand wasn’t impeded here.patriciaw10-11-2026
- A final decision still needs a proper explanation. If the federation’s complaint goes nowhere, I hope the officials at least review how they handled the riders afterwards.michael5410-11-2026
- Fair play to Lucinda for saying Marie had won fair and square. That kind of sportsmanship matters, especially after such a controversial decision.raceready710-11-2026
- Schreiber beat Brand on the road, so the jury needed to explain clearly why that slight deviation warranted relegation. Being cut off before she could give her account sounds appalling.lindae10-11-2026