Crashes, punctures, and relentless dominance from Tadej Pogacar turned the 2026 Tour de France into a grueling campaign for the beleaguered Netcompany Ineos team, forcing director of racing Geraint Thomas through a steep learning curve after leadership injuries derailed their initial podium plans.
Netcompany and Oscar Onley Injuries Derail Tour de France Plans
What was supposed to be a fresh chapter for the cycling powerhouse quickly devolved into an uphill battle. The optimism that greeted the arrival of a new co-sponsor, Netcompany, and the acquisition of Oscar Onley, who finished fourth overall in 2025, evaporated quickly when the Scot was injured in June and forced to miss the Tour, which scuppered Thomas’s best-laid plans.
A June injury sidelined Onley, destroying management blueprints and forcing Geraint Thomas—stepping into the frontman role previously worn by Dave Brailsford—to hastily reimagine his lineup and lead a rapid realignment of the team’s goals.
A Baptism of Fire and Shifting Tactics Under Thomas
For Thomas, the transition into managing his riders during his first Tour proved punishingly direct. Managing a bruised squad through serial punctures and persistent bad luck left the veteran admitting to a lot of learning on the job.
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, Thomas said
The squad opened the race from the first stage, when Dave Brailsford’s team came close to winning the team time trial in Montjuic. Thomas said of his riders: We were there or thereabouts. 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.
With Onley absent, the emphasis shifted and Egan Bernal, the Tour winner in 2019, was brought in to boost the team’s climbing skills. Meanwhile, the French signing Kévin Vauquelin failed to repeat the successes of the previous summer, leaving Thomas and his riders targeting stage wins, though a rare high point came when France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke to Vauquelin after stage six. However, the chances of achieving stage wins were reduced by the domination of Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Emirates team, allied to a tougher course and higher average speeds.
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, Thomas added
The Pogacar Factor and the Ghost of Transfer Deals Past
Compounding the tactical squeeze was the staggering dominance of Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Emirates team. By the time Thomas and his riders got to the foot of the double-header of finishes on Alpe d’Huez, their race was about survival.
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.
More galling, perhaps, were the serial punctures and the sight of Remco Evenepoel, of the Red Bull‑Bora‑Hansgrohe team, riding to his best Tour finish in second place. The Olympic road race and time-trial champion, a friend of Thomas, had long been connected to a move to Brailsford’s team, but the deal for him to join 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 opted to sign Onley.
Rebuilding Toward the Vuelta and Confronting a New Era
A decade ago, as Team Sky, Chris Froome led the team to an emphatic overall win in Paris while British riders, spearheaded by Mark Cavendish, took seven stage wins. That success now seems a different era, with Froome retired, record climbing speeds being set on a regular basis, and Pogacar dominating almost every race he starts.
Of the Slovene, Thomas agreed that challenging the five-time winner was a daunting task. 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.
Geraint Thomas Discusses Mental Demands and Vuelta a España Goals for Oscar Onley
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, Thomas stated
With the Tour over, Onley’s 2026 season has never really got started, but his next goal is likely to be the Vuelta a España.
Related reading
