Rowe realizes wake-up call for INEOS is overdue: "Can't be justified, several teams passed us"

INEOS and formerly Sky had practiced the new cycling to perfection: excellent teamwork, a scientific approach, and an understanding that all potential profit areas were explored. This approach resulted in seven Tour victories in eight years, among countless others. Meanwhile, that approach has become virtually worthless. The team is struggling to keep up with an overwhelmingly new way of cycling that we will see starting in 2021.

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Luke Rowe, who experienced the great successes of Sky and INEOS, mostly as a road captain, joined the Eurosport broadcast and gave his analysis on the team he has been racing for since 2012. The now 34-year-old rider is harsh on his employer, the team that began stringing together successes, especially in the grand tours and other stage races, as of the aforementioned year.

"Every day here competes as if it were a classic, basically as we have seen for several years in modern cycling," he begins the core analysis when asked to shine his light on the current Vuelta. "That's why I personally think winning a stage, looking at my team INEOS Grenadiers, is the most important thing for what remains in this Vuelta. I don't think Rodríguez can still make the podium, then a seventh place is not worth very much," he said honestly.

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"It's not prettier than it is, and the podium is just very far away, then other guys like Mathias Skjelmose have to crunch," Rowe said. And a GC outside of a podium finish is not what they were content with at the big team of yesteryear, is it? "The focus was on stages, with Josh Tarling also out. Thymen was the leader, but Carlos didn't have the full support, ánd, and was not the best form to go for it completely. And then De Plus also dropped out," he concluded about the mediocre Vuelta from a British point of view.

"I will do my best to say this nicely," he replied when asked from the studio whether the team had not reached a certain low point. "You can't justify it. It's a team with a huge budget. Riders are paid to win big races. That's just not happening now. We're not performing. Not that one person is failing, but it hasn't been going well for a long time. Staying at the top was difficult; we were chased. Now, we have to chase the rest. Several teams have passed us. I know the people at the top of the team, and they will start thinking and not give up. But it's not solved in one or two years. I give them a few years, then INEOS will return to the top."