{"id":657548,"date":"2025-12-27T09:28:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T09:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/657548\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T09:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T09:28:21","slug":"predicting-the-ineos-grenadiers-tour-de-france-team-for-2026-%f0%9f%94%ae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/657548\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting the Ineos Grenadiers Tour de France team for 2026 \ud83d\udd2e"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Can Josh Tarling push for a Tour de France debut in 2026? Photo courtesy of SWpix.<\/p>\n

Hi Subscribers,<\/p>\n

I hope you had a great break over the Christmas holidays and that you\u2019re already thinking about the 2026 season, which starts in just a few weeks with the Tour Down Under.<\/p>\n

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Over the last few days, I\u2019ve been planning out the first half of my own season, which will see the Substack head to Spain for a series of training camps in January before a trip to the Challenge Mallorca to see Remco Evenepoel and his new Red Bull team in action in the all-important TTT. There will be a couple of races in February and March and, of course, a healthy dose of the cobbled Spring Classics. <\/p>\n

I have a couple more races in the first few months of the season, and there will be a longer stint at the Giro d\u2019Italia (I did a week in 2025), and most of the Tour de France and Femmes are on my schedule.<\/p>\n

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PS, I almost forgot, I have a story for today. I was talking to a former rider the other day about who might be selected for the Ineos Grenadiers team at the Tour de France in 2026. There\u2019s no doubt that the team have enjoyed a hugely improved transfer window – their best in several seasons – and in this story I\u2019ve picked what I\u2019d consider their best line-up for the biggest race in the world. <\/p>\n

Let me know in the comments section who you\u2019d take if you were picking the team!<\/p>\n

After all the money and effort spent on bringing Onley to the team, he\u2019s the automatic nailed-on leader for the Tour de France. Not since Geraint Thomas in 2018 has the British team had a homegrown winner of the world\u2019s biggest bike race, and even though Onley isn\u2019t on the same level as Poga\u010dar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard, he still provides his new employers with a compelling narrative in terms of trying to bridge the gap to the proven Grand Tour winners.<\/p>\n

The course looks good for the young Scot too, with just one individual time trial and a TTT effort at the start of the race that should see his team keep him in contention, but not in a position where they\u2019ll need to control the race at any point.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of the team and their legacy, there\u2019s a lot to be excited about because, for the first time since 2022, they have a rider who can genuinely challenge for the podium.<\/p>\n

Vauquelin brings versatility and steel to Ineos Grenadiers, but there\u2019s a nagging feeling that he\u2019s not a thoroughbred GC contender, and that it\u2019ll be hard to make substantial improvements on his seventh place from 2025. If Onley\u2019s credentials do not convince you, then you can\u2019t really make a case for a rider who finished a further 10 minutes down on the Picnic rider and 22 minutes adrift of Poga\u010dar. <\/p>\n