Vauquelin and Onley to debut in stacked INEOS line-up: “No pressure to perform straight away”

For Vauquelin, it will be a special return regardless: the Frenchman is set to race for the first time since the Tour de France 2025. After that, he broke his leg following a fall down the stairs, meaning February 2026 marks his first appearance back in the peloton. “That was about 200 days ago, so I just want to push and start my time in this team well,” Vauquelin said in an INEOS statement.

The former Arkéa rider knows exactly what sort of week awaits in Portugal — and he is already circling stages. “Stage two and stage five, and we also have a time trial,” Vauquelin said. “So there’s that really hard climb, which I think suits me and Oscar, but also Thymen. We have a very strong team here and I just want to push to the limit.”

Vauquelin already has a clear roadmap for what comes after Algarve too — with a major goal arriving quickly. “That’s Paris–Nice, in my home country and in my city. After that come the Ardennes, and then I want to win in the Tour and give us a yellow jersey,” he said, looking ahead with confidence.

Onley will also make his INEOS debut at the Volta ao Algarve after joining from Picnic PostNL this winter — a transfer that was only finalised in December. “So it was a busy but fun off-season. When you change teams in December, of course everything changes. It’s been busy weeks, but everything has gone well.”

Form-wise, the Brit feels he is in a good place after a successful altitude camp on Tenerife. “And that despite it being a long winter. I’m starting a few weeks later than the past few years. I really needed that after last year.” Still, he tried not to overdo things straight away. “I tried not to train everything at once. Changing teams is already something big enough.”

Onley is not talking about winning in Portugal just yet. “I feel good, so I’m looking forward to racing. The main focus will be learning how the team works, where everything is in the bus. I feel no pressure to perform straight away. I think how we work as a team will be the most important thing this week.”

He also has a clear idea of what comes next. “A pretty traditional path to the Tour. It’s no secret the Tour is the biggest goal of the year for myself and for the team. I think we’ll have a strong selection there, with different objectives. I start here, then go to Paris–Nice, and then hopefully Catalunya. That’s pretty close together.”