Geraint Thomas puts numbers to INEOS’ decline: “We’re at 20% of what we used to be”

Netcompany INEOS continues to seek the way to regain its place among the top teams in the peloton. After another season without standout victories in the grand tours, Geraint Thomas has openly acknowledged that the results of 2026 have not lived up to expectations. However, the Welshman believes that the team is making progress in a reconstruction that will require more time.

INEOS closes another season far from the results that marked its golden era

The balance of 2026 leaves a complicated situation for Netcompany INEOS. The British team has finished for the second consecutive year in eighth place in the UCI world ranking, a classification that reflects the distance that still separates it from the most dominant structures in cycling.

Geraint Thomas, who took on the role of competition director after retiring at the end of 2025, has analyzed the situation in his podcast Watts Occurring, which he shares with Luke Rowe. And his assessment of the results leaves little room for interpretation.

"If we look solely at the results, I would say that it has definitely not been a good season. We have achieved many victories, but they were minor wins. We really haven't achieved any significant victory."

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The words carry special meaning coming from one of the protagonists of the most successful stage of the structure. Thomas joined Team Sky in 2010, won the Tour de France in 2018, and lived through a time when the team conquered seven Tours between 2012 and 2019.

Now the scenario is very different. His last victory in the general classification of a grand tour remains the Giro d'Italia of 2021, achieved by Egan Bernal.

In 2026, Filippo Ganna has signed two of the team's most notable results, with his victories in Dwars door Vlaanderen and in the time trial of the Giro d'Italia. Dorian Godon has also contributed five WorldTour wins in his first season with the British formation.

However, the Tour de France once again left a particularly poor balance. INEOS finished the race without stage victories and without any rider in the top ten of the general classification. Thymen Arensman's fourth place in the Giro d'Italia and Oscar Onley's sixth place in La Vuelta were their main results in the general classifications of the grand tours.

Thomas calls for patience and acknowledges that the reconstruction is far from complete

Despite his assessment of the season, Thomas believes that the results do not show all the work that is being done within the structure.

To explain this, he uses a comparison to convey that the team's recovery cannot happen immediately.

"Let's assume we are starting from 20% of what we were before, just to put a number. You can't go directly from 20% to 80%. It's like climbing a ladder. You can't jump from the second step to the eighth. You have to go through the third, fourth, and fifth."

The Welshman insists that the team has begun to recover some of its functioning, although it still needs to transform that internal progress into significant results.

One of the main problems of 2026 has been the difficulty in harnessing the potential of its new signings. Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin arrived after finishing fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 2025 Tour de France, but neither was able to develop the expected season.

Onley suffered a fall in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that caused a shoulder injury and prevented him from competing in the Tour. Vauquelin, for his part, faced illnesses and setbacks that affected his performance, especially during the spring classics.

Thomas acknowledges that not everything can be attributed to bad luck. Precisely Onley's fall is one of the examples he uses to explain that the team still needs to improve its tactical execution.

INEOS had placed its riders at the front before a technical descent, but the pace ended up being excessively aggressive for the objective they were pursuing.

"The reason for taking control was not to make that descent perfectly. It was to have control and set the pace."

Even so, Thomas highlights that the riders had managed to execute the first part of the plan correctly and believes that these types of situations are part of the learning process for a group that is still adapting.

The recovery of Arensman, one of the positive news

Among the aspects that Thomas does consider satisfactory is the evolution of Thymen Arensman. The Dutchman managed to finish fourth in the Giro d'Italia and showed a consistency that he had not always had in previous seasons.

The competition director particularly highlights his mental and psychological improvement, as well as Egan Bernal's collaboration during the last mountain stages.

Thomas believes that this ability to work together, manage difficult moments, and maintain consistency over three weeks represents one of the advances the team needs.

But individual progress is still not enough to change the overall situation of INEOS.

Moreover, next year will face a new challenge with Filippo Ganna's departure to Lidl-Trek. The Italian has been one of their most reliable riders in recent seasons, and his departure means losing an important reference both in time trials and in the classics.

For 2027, the team will incorporate riders like Joe Blackmore, Markel Beloki, and Harold Tejada, as part of a renewal aimed at regaining competitiveness.

Thomas maintains his confidence in the project, although he does not hide that there are still numerous problems to solve.

"I think we have climbed a couple of steps, without a doubt. We have also slipped a few times, but that is part of the process."