Ineos Grenadiers' new director of racing Geraint Thomas said that he has no new information to provide on the swirl of rumours that top-five Tour de France finisher Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) may end up racing with Ineos Grenadiers in 2025.
Onley has been repeatedly linked with Ineos Grenadiers, although so far there have been no direct recent comments from either the team or the rider on the possible signing.
When asked about it by Cyclingnews at the Vuelta a España presentation on Wednesday evening, Thomas was not willing to open up on the current state of play.
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"I don't know what to say about it, I'm just focussing on the riders in the team, and he's not in the team at the minute, so that's something for people higher up than me," Thomas said.
Whilst the Onley rumours will not evaporate until a clear direction of travel emerges for the young British racer, Wednesday saw the Vuelta a España 2026 route published in full, starting on roads that as a Monaco resident of 13 years standing, Thomas knows very well indeed.
"It's a hard race and looks as hard as ever. The opening time trial is going to be amazing, very technical and grippy, it'll be a good first test," he said. "It'd be good for a guy like [Primož] Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) to gain some time on the climbers, so it's definitely going to be key."
While Ineos have a fairly clear idea of who will be doing the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, Thomas said, their Vuelta leaders had yet to be decided in full.
"We've got a rough idea of who'll be doing all three, but a lot can change. There's always some guys who don't end up making the Tour or Giro who end up doing the Vuelta, so maybe on paper at this time of year, the line-up might not seem so deep, but it's always super-stacked by the end."
That said, there is speculation amongst the Spanish media that Carlos Rodríguez, as a rider hailing from the region of Granada and who grew up in Almuñecar, one of the Vuelta's stage start towns, will likely be heavily involved.
Meanwhile, Thomas continues to settle into his new role as head of sport, something he says he's "looking forward to going to races on the other side, while hopefully I keep remembering what it's like. Ex-riders quickly forget how hard it is, so I need to remember that."
"It's all new, very early days, but I'm looking forward to it." He said that perhaps when he sees the riders on the streets of Monaco next summer, "it'll maybe make me feel a bit nostalgic to be racing again, but when I think about what it takes to get there - No."
He agreed, though, that with the final stages being very tough in Granada on roads he knows himself from a couple of altitude training camps in Sierra Nevada, the race will not be decided until the very last few days.
"A lot of the racing is down south. I don't know Spain as well as a lot of people here, but I certainly know it's going to be hot. It's going to take a lot out of the boys. Every year there's a lot of climbs, but this year it's certainly stacked."
