Geraint Thomas, the new director of racing for Netcompany Ineos, has described the team's 2026 Tour de France campaign as 'tough going' after a series of crashes, punctures, and injuries derailed their ambitions. From the opening team time trial in Montjuic, where they narrowly missed victory, the team faced relentless setbacks that left them struggling to compete.
Baptism of fire for Thomas
Thomas, who replaced Dave Brailsford as the team's frontman, said: 'I'm happy to not be racing any more, because I suffered way too much. But it's good to still be involved in the nitty-gritty of it.' His first Tour managing riders became a test of adaptability after leader Oscar Onley was ruled out by a pre-race injury, forcing a rapid realignment of goals.
The optimism from Ineos's acquisition of Onley, who finished fourth overall in 2025, and the arrival of co-sponsor Netcompany, quickly evaporated. The Scot's June injury scuppered Thomas's best-laid plans. 'We were there or thereabouts,' Thomas said. 'The team time trial everyone wanted to win and believed we could win. We were close, and we've been there, but just not quite clicked.'
Punctures and missed opportunities
Serial punctures plagued the team, while rival Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rode to second place overall. Evenepoel, a friend of Thomas, had been close to joining Ineos but the deal fell through. 'With all the changes going on in that team, there were delays and I couldn't really wait any more,' Evenepoel said last winter, adding, 'It was close to being done.'
Instead, Ineos signed Onley, but his 2026 season never got started. Without him as a podium contender, the team shifted focus to stage wins, bringing in 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal to boost climbing. French signing Kévin Vauquelin failed to repeat his previous successes, leaving Thomas and his riders targeting stage wins that were increasingly rare due to Tadej Pogacar's dominance, a tougher course, and higher average speeds.
Survival mode on Alpe d'Huez
By the time the race reached the double-header finishes on Alpe d'Huez, Ineos was in survival mode. 'Without being defeatist, you're not exactly racing 'Pog' on days like that,' the 2018 Tour winner said. 'Racing evolves and you need to adapt with it. Everyone's been looking for opportunities because they're few and far between.'
Thomas admitted there had been 'a lot of learning on the job' for him. 'It's easy to talk about [winning] stages but there are so few anyway that it is tough. But it's the Tour, it's not supposed to be easy.'
A different era
A decade ago, as Team Sky, Chris Froome led an emphatic overall win while British riders took seven stage wins. Now, with Froome retired, record climbing speeds set regularly, and Pogacar dominating almost every race, that success seems a distant memory. Of the Slovene, Thomas said: 'I think everyone, if they're realistic, knew that he was on another level. It was only Jonas [Vingegaard] who really believed he could do it.'
'Racing is all mental, it's all in the head. If you go off it, it's so hard to switch it back on. As soon as you're not doing everything right, you lose that couple of per cent. Everyone is so good now that you can't afford to do that.'
