The Tour de France ended on Sunday in Paris, but Netcompany Ineos’ internal review into their race and why they failed to win even a stage began straight away, with Head of Racing Geraint Thomas leading the critical but forward-thinking approach.
Netcompany know they have to do better and know they have a great opportunity when the 2027 Tour starts in Great Britain.
There are hundreds of metrics to measure success at the Tour de France. One of the simplest and most symbolic is the team prize list earnings. UAE again topped the table thanks to Tadej Pogačar, winning €611,980. Netcompany was down in 17th place, with €23,760, less than teams that won stages and even ProTeam Pinarello-Q36.5.
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Netcompany were on the back foot even before the Tour began after losing team leader Oscar Onley to injury; Kévin Vauquelin was also sick in June, and Josh Tarling had to fight back from a collarbone fracture to even make it to the start. Thymen Arensman was unable to repeat his stage wins of 2025, and Egan Bernal could only finish 20th overall.
“Obviously, it was a tough race. We wanted to get a bit more out of it,” Thomas admitted as he spoke via the team on the Champs-Élysées, the very place where he won the 2018 Tour and the British team triumphed seven times between 2012 and 2019.
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The team selected a squad to take aim at the opening TTT in Barcelona but Vauquelin punctured and so was able to play the role of vital last man. Netcompany finished second to Visma-Lease a Bike by eight seconds. Things only got worse from there, despite riders often going on the attack and in key breakaways.
“I think it started well with the TTT performance. Obviously we had a bit of bad luck and I didn’t go our way,” Thomas said.
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“Then a couple of crashes and a few untimely punctures meant it took a while just to get going. From there, the boys did what we wanted: they left it out on the road, they raced aggressively, they tried everything they could.
“Obviously, you want results at the end of the day, but when you go for stage wins, it means the mountain stages, the TT, and sprint stages wipe out a lot of the racing. There were five days that really ended in breakaways. We were always present, we were always there, but it just didn’t happen. I don’t think you can’t fault the effort.”
Thomas was not interested in wallowing in what could have been, even before the start of the Tour. Now it is over, he is keen to use the lack of results as a lesson for the future.
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“It hurts, but when you’re suffering, that’s when it makes you really hone in on wanting to improve,” he said.
“The season as a whole, up to this point, I think is definitely a big, big positive. This month was hard, but I think we need to keep focused and keep pushing forward.
“You make a new plan, you get up, and you go after it, and you make it happen. So that’s kind of the attitude I’m going to bring to it; that’s the attitude that the team has, that the staff and the riders have. That’s what we’re going to try and do.
“We’ll look at everything around the race, from coaching, nutrition, tactics, selection was tough because it was so changeable at the end. We’ll look at every domain and just continue to push and look to improve in every aspect of it. That’s what it’s about. We go from there.”
Thomas and Netcompany will have extra motivation for the 2027 Tour de France because it starts in Great Britain, with a third stage in Cardiff, Thomas’ home town.
“We’ve got the Grand Départ, that’s exciting,” he said. “We start in Edinburgh, then Liverpool, and then into Wales. It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s massive for the team, massive for the UK.
“We’re a British team and we want to go there and perform and really capitalise on it. That’s a really good target to have. I think everyone’s super motivated for that. I, for one, can’t wait. Let’s get after it.”