What is happening to the INEOS team? Their captain surrenders to the evidence: "it's time to look in the mirror and realize"

After the conclusion of La Vuelta 2024, one of the teams that has gone relatively unnoticed in the race, despite the 10th place achieved by their leader Carlos Rodríguez, has been the INEOS Grenadiers. The once almighty British squad continues its free fall process despite being one of the teams with the highest budget in the World Tour.

Alarm bells ring at INEOS Grenadiers due to the team's poor performance

The data speaks for itself, with only 14 victories this season, compared to the 38 and 39 achieved in previous years by one of the teams with the highest budget in the World Tour alongside UAE Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike. A decline in performance that is nothing more than a continuation of a trend that has been observed for several years now, turning the British team into just a shadow of the all-powerful Team Sky that dominated cycling since its creation in 2010.

There are various rumors circulating about internal struggles within the team's technical staff, who in recent years have seen their founder Dave Brailsford leave, as he is more focused on continuing to grow within the structure of the INEOS Sports conglomerate that manages all investments in sports by the giant oil company. Another departure that has caused the team to lose its essence is that of Rod Ellinworth, who was the head of sports during Sky's golden era and returned in recent years to INEOS Grenadiers to try to turn the situation around.

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This, combined with a somewhat erratic recruitment policy, which has left them with only Tom Pidcock and Carlos Rodríguez as reference cyclists while hoping for an unlikely return to form by Egan Bernal, who won the Tour de France, leaves the team in a very difficult situation, especially when it comes to justifying the huge salaries their cyclists receive and the enormous budget the team has.

Veteran cyclist Luke Rowe, one of the road captains of the British squad, analyzed the situation on Eurosport and acknowledged what is happening within the team "The reality cannot be hidden. It is a team with a large budget, with some very well-paid cyclists, some cyclists who are paid to win big cycling races, and that simply is not happening. I think it's time to look in the mirror and realize that we are not performing as expected, and I don't think the blame lies with just one person".

Rumors circulating within the team, such as those in recent days indicating that Tom Pidcock, who gave one of the best victories of the season to INEOS Grenadiers by winning the Amstel Gold Race, could sign with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, another team on the rise that has also surpassed the British team in terms of performance, do not help create a peaceful atmosphere.

In any case, Luke Rowe, who will retire at the end of this season and is likely to join the team's staff, expressed confidence "I know the management, I know the owners well, and they are not the type of people to give up" while also pointing out that it will be difficult to reverse the situation in the coming years and suggests a timeframe of 5 years for INEOS Grenadiers to once again become one of the most important teams in cycling.