Ineos Grenadiers have announced their star-studded roster for the 2024 Tour de France with breakthrough star at last year’s Tour, Carlos Rodríguez and 2019 winner, Egan Bernal, spearheading their GC ambitions.
Rodríguez was excellent at the Tour in 2023, taking a stage win ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on stage 14 and managing fifth overall in Paris despite a late crash. He arrives off the back of a recent stage win at the Critérium du Dauphiné and overall victory at the Tour de Romandie.
Former winner Bernal has continued his resurgence back to form following a near career and life-ending crash in 2022 and looked close to his best at the Tour de Suisse earlier this month where he took fourth overall.
The GC pair will be joined by another former Tour winner, Geraint Thomas, off the back of a Giro d’Italia podium and a mix of talented youth and experience in Tom Pidcock, Michał Kwiatkowski, Laurens De Plus, Jonathan Castroviejo and Ben Turner.
“After a strong and consistent season, Carlos [Rodríguez] will be leading the INEOS Grenadiers’ charge across France. Carlos has continued to impress us with his racing as well as his professionalism and attitude on and off the bike,” said Performance Director Scott Drawer in a team release.
“Right beside him will be the strength and Tour experience of Egan [Bernal], with Tom [Pidcock] and Geraint [Thomas] providing support but also looking to race aggressively, disrupt and take the race to our competition.”
Rodríguez showed himself as one of the best GC riders in the world at last year’s Tour, and he's only 23 with a knack for winning stages. While he may be unable to fight with Pogačar and Vingegaard for overall victory, those vying for the podium will know what he is capable of.
“My preparation has gone well so far, and I feel confident that I will be starting in Florence in the best shape possible. I had a slower start to the year than I wanted but have turned that around and the legs are now feeling good, and my body is responding well,” said Rodríguez in a press release.
For Bernal, it’s a huge moment after over two years of fighting to regain form to be announced as Ineos’ co-leader in France. His results have only pointed in the right direction in 2024, now in the battle for WorldTour podiums at every appearance.
“I am very happy to be selected again. My ambition is to be really competitive and to be someone who can make a real difference in the race,” said Bernal.
Thomas and Pidcock have been announced as support riders for the two leaders, despite the latter always stating that his ambition is to be a GC rider who will one day win the Tour de France. But he has other goals in mind with a defence of his Olympic MTB title arriving quickly after the Tour’s conclusion.
Nonetheless, he’s still targeting another stage to add to his Alpe d’Huez triumph from 2022 and after a strong TT at the Tour de Suisse, where he took sixth overall, a GC run isn’t out of the question.
“I’ve won a Tour stage before and that’s really something I would love to do again. The opening few stages this year present a real opportunity but there are many riders with eyes on the yellow jersey,” said the young Brit.
“After a block at altitude and then getting back to racing at the Tour de Suisse, I was improving every day and I had my best day on the TT bike, which is very promising and certainly the right direction I want to be going in at the moment.”
Thomas is starting his 13th Tour and 21st Grand Tour but he’s sticking with what he said at the Giro and not planning a GC charge, just looking forward to some exciting racing and aiding his leaders with his wealth of experience.
“I didn’t know how I would feel after the Giro and getting back to training as I have never done the Giro-Tour double before, but it’s been a solid block and the legs are feeling pretty good,” he said. “Personally, I am looking forward to racing with a bit less pressure and more freedom to mix it up and try to get really stuck in.”
Ineos Grenadiers 2024 Tour de France squad
- Carlos Rodríguez
- Egan Bernal
- Geraint Thomas
- Thomas Pidcock
- Ben Turner
- Jonathan Castroviejo
- Laurens De Plus
- Michał Kwiatkowski
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