Oscar Onley on his way to fourth at the Tour de France. Photo courtesy of SWpix.
Fourth in the Tour de France marked a breakthrough performance for Oscar Onley and his Picnic PostNL team. It not only played a vital role in securing the squad’s WorldTour status for the next three years but also saw Onley emerge as a potential future Grand Tour contender on the biggest stage of all.
Of course, that result sparked speculation and certainly interest from rival teams, but with the rider under contract for the next two seasons, is a hasty transfer really what his career needs?
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There is certainly no shortage of potential suitors. All but three or four current WorldTour teams have defined or successful leadership structures when it comes to the Tour de France for the next three or four years, but with the likes of Ineos Grenadiers, Decathlon CMA CGM, Lidl-Trek, Soudal Quick-Step and others searching for leaders either now or next season, Onley will continue to draw attention.
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Ineos Grenadiers is the most obvious fit in many ways. They admitted, at the start of the Tour de France, that the race to sign Remco Evenepoel involved just one remaining team and that they were no longer in the hunt, but at the same time, the British squad had several other irons in the fire with their longstanding interest in Juan Ayuso, and from what we’ve heard, enquiries into both Derek Gee and Oscar Onley. Florian Lipowitz has also been mentioned as a potential target, but I have no evidence of Ineos making an approach for the German at this current stage.