Are Team Ineos no longer a dominant force?

If you look back at the Tour de France history books from the last decade, there’s an overriding theme – a clear dominance in the race for British cycling team, Ineos (formerly known as Team Sky). It began in 2012, when Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British racer to win the Tour de France and the esteemed yellow jersey. Since then, six General Classification victories have followed – Chris Froome leading the way with four wins, with Geraint Thomas and last year’s winner Egan Bernal picking up a win each. Team Sky/Ineos’ lead racers were understandably always the firm favorites in the latest Tour de France odds from Paddy Power.

But this year, it isn’t the case and there appears to be a shift. It seems as though this dominance is waning, and a landmark year – and new decade – is allowing someone new to come to the fore.

Head of Ineos Grenadiers, Sir Dave Brailsford rung the changes ahead of putting together his Tour de France team roster. No place for former winners Froome and Thomas, with poor form in the Tour’s final warm-up race, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the reason cited for omitting these two experienced heads. Of course, the oversight sparks the end of an era – an era that has seen much success for British racing, led by two British stars of the sport.

In the case of Froome, the decision came as less of a surprise. The former champion missed out at last year’s race after suffering a horrific high-speed crash at Dauphiné, which culminated in numerous injuries, including a fractured right femur, a broken hip, a fractured elbow, and fractured ribs. Froome had completed his recovery, but was gearing up to get back to those prime levels of fitness we had previously seen. But then came a second setback and the safety measures in place amidst the coronavirus pandemic put paid to a number of races going ahead. Subsequently, this lack of action curtailed his on-going rehab and practice in readiness for the UCI Tour restarting.

The omission of Thomas, however, was slightly more surprising. Granted, he hadn’t fared very well in the race at Dauphiné – finishing some way down the pecking order and over 50 minutes behind the winner Daniel Martinez of EF Cycling – but he has the experience and know-how to guide an otherwise youthful and inexperienced squad.

Brailsford explained the decision to keep the two key personnel out of his Tour de France line-up – and in particular, paid tribute to Froome, who will be switching allegiances to Israel Start-Up Nation next season. He said: “Chris is a legend of our sport, a true champion who has demonstrated incredible grit and determination to come back from his crash last year.

“We want to support him to compete for another Grand Tour title and the Vuelta gives him that little bit more time to continue his progress to the top level.”

Instead, last year’s winner, the Colombian Bernal, has led the line. And it looks to be a decision that has fared well so far as things stand – with Bernal in second-place to Slovenian Primož Roglič, and looking likely to retain his white jersey in the Young Rider Classification. There’s just 21 seconds separating first and second in the General Classification standings, and after a solid performance on the first day of the mountains, he clawed back some precious seconds. But you can’t help but think a large amount of pressure has been put on such a young cyclist’s shoulders.

It’s all a matter of time whether the omission of Thomas was the right one. But while he focuses on the Tirreno-Adriatico, en route to the Giro d’Italia, all eyes will be firmly on Roglič to see if he can bring glory to Team Jumbo-Visma and knock the Ineos Grenadiers off their pedestal. After all, it’s an unorthodox year – and stranger things have happened.