Geraint Thomas believed Ineos Grenadiers’ victory in the Paris-Nice team time trial was evidence that the squad are “on the way back” after what he described as “a rough couple of years”.
The 2018 Tour de France winner, who retired at the end of last year, was behind the wheel of the Ineos team car on Tuesday in his first team time trial in a new role of director of racing.
Five years ago at the Tour of Britain was the last time Ineos won a TTT, but Thomas was not in the lineup. He has a strong history with the discipline that used to be a strong suit of the British team, particularly in their Team Sky days.
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“The TTT is something that’s always been close to my heart personally, and the team’s,” said Thomas, who won a TTT with Team Sky en route to the overall Critérium du Dauphiné victory that preceded his Tour de France glory.
“I was more nervous than I thought I’d be, to be honest,” he added, in reference to his new role on the other side of the fence. “I knew I’d care about the guys, stepping into this new role, but that was insane.”
Ineos Grenadiers set off late and set the fastest time on the 23.5km course on stage 3 of the 'Race to the Sun', which Thomas won in 2016. They edged Lidl-Trek by two seconds, and their trio of GC leaders – Carlos Rodriguez, Oscar Onley, and Kévin Vauquelin – put 15 seconds into pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
“The whole team has just been incredible. It’s a massive team effort. We set out at the start of the year with this as a big goal. To be honest, we didn’t expect it in Paris-Nice – it was more about learning – but it’s not bad, is it?
“We had a plan, but the plan goes out the window as soon as you start, doesn’t it? The way they adapted and rode the race on feel and just adjusted, it was great to see.”
The Paris-Nice stage 3 success marked Ineos Grenadiers’ ninth victory of the season so far. That’s a third of the way to their tally from 2025, and almost up at the tally of just 14 from 2024. Once the dominant force in professional cycling, with the Tour de France seemingly under lock and key, Ineos Grenadiers have fallen from their perch in recent years, and have at times looked listless in terms of identity and direction.
Thomas’ back-room role coincided with the return of General Manager Dave Brailsford, who was on the ground at Paris-Nice, in the week that Cyclingnews reported that the team are set to welcome a new big-money title sponsor.
“We’ve had a rough couple of years but we’re on the way back,” Thomas affirmed.
“It’s definitely not the end, there’s still a long way to go, but we’ve got a great team of riders and staff, and everyone’s motivated to push forward. It’s a big challenge. We challenge each other with big goals and big dreams but we support that as well.”
One particular boost for Thomas and the team was that they’re here with their GC trio for the Tour de France: Rodriguez and the two new signings, Onley and Vauquelin. The day carried particular significance given the Tour will open with a similarly-lengthed TTT in Barcelona, making Tuesday an important dress-rehearsal and Paris-Nice as a whole a crucial opportunity to gel as a squad.
“There’s no battle between them. You saw the way they rode today, they were willing to put it on the line for each other,” Thomas said. “It’s amazing to have so many strong GC guys in the team as a whole.”
