Oscar Onley rivals Tour de France stars on short climbs, but what about the high mountains? "His 30-minute values are strong too"

Tim Naberman has already shared some great anecdotes about the progress Onley has made in his five years with Picnic PostNL. The young rider, who is contracted with Iwan Spekenbrink’s team until 2027, is racing at a level in this Tour de France that we’ve never seen from him before. He placed sixth in Boulogne-sur-Mer, fourth in Rouen, and third in Mur-de-Bretagne. Each time finishing behind the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel.

It’s impressive, according to Picnic PostNL, but the cherry on top is still missing. Onley, who also finished third in the Tour of Switzerland, is still hunting for a stage win. In the stage to Vire Normandie, for example, the peloton didn’t give him any space because of his strong performances so far.

Because of this, Picnic PostNL is in a bit of a pickle right now. Onley is currently seventh in the general classification, but can he hold on until the end? “We’re not really surprised by what he’s showing in this Tour. Oscar has been developing very well in recent years, and we know he’s among the most talented riders in the world,” Winston said.

So far in the Tour, we’ve mostly seen explosive efforts, and that’s where the Scot has excelled. However, that doesn’t guarantee success in the tougher mountain stages. “We’ll see when we get to the high mountain stages. We know he’s in good form, but we also have to be realistic and admit that he’s never gone full gas for three weeks straight,” Winston says.

“His numbers over 20 and 30 minutes are good too, but we’re talking about weeks two and three in a Grand Tour. By then, there’s already been a lot of hard racing every day,” the Dutch team’s sports director continues. “In that respect, we’re still somewhat in the dark. He climbed well in the Tour of Switzerland, but that race was only eight days long, after all.”

“We also don’t want to put too much pressure on Oscar and prefer to take it day by day,” Winston continues. “There might be a day when things don’t go so smoothly, and that’s okay too. If that happens, we won’t fall into despair. We’ll keep doing what we came here for. Chasing stage wins and seeing where we end up.”