Steve Cummings appeared set to make a return to working as a directeur sportif (DS) on the ground for Ineos Grenadiers at the Tour of Britain Men this week, but was replaced just before the race began, by Tom Pidcock’s coach, Kurt Bogaerts.
Cummings has not been physically present at races for the team since he was seen at the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June. Despite being promoted to director of racing in December last year, he was also left out of the team’s on the ground race management group for all three Grand Tours this year, including the Tour de France.
Cummings was listed as DS for the Tour of Britain on the initial start list, but was removed on Monday. He was also listed as DS for August's Deutschland Tour, but he was later removed.
At the Tour of Britain Men, Cummings has been replaced by fellow Ineos DS, and Tom Pidcock’s personal coach, Kurt Bogaerts. The Belgian former pro is working alongside Ian Stannard as one of the team’s sports directors this week.
Tom Pidcock’s presence in the Ineos Grenadiers team selection has made the British registered squad one of the two favourites for overall victory at the six day stage race. Pidcock’s tense relationship with Cummings was notable in the second series of the Tour de France:Unchained documentary on Netflix.
Pidcock was present at the Tour in July, and suggested that he felt Cummings surprise absence from the team would have no negative impact on their strategy for the race.
"I don’t think it’ll have an impact," Pidcock said. "Things change, it’s not really for me to comment."
During the Tour, Ineos insisted that Cummings was supporting the team’s DS group remotely.
"Steve’s still working on the Tour, he’s just not at the Tour," team CEO John Allert said at the time. "He’s feeding stuff in, he’s part of a team, we’ve got a team of coaches and DSs and he’s obviously an important part of that."
However, the team’s lead sports director on the ground, Zak Dempster, said that he felt it would it would be challenging for the former pro to be involved in decisions remotely.
"I think that’s impossible," Dempster said. "For the moment I am the lead DS here and it’ll be me managing the race on behalf of the performance team."
Speaking after the first stage of the Tour of Britain in Kelso, Ian Stannard told journalist Daniel Benson’s Substack page that Cummings was supporting remotely once again.
Stannard also suggested that the Ineos DS group had continued to undergo major overhaul which has inadvertently meant that Cummings role on the team is changing.
"A provisional start list changes all the time, just like the riders," Stannard said. "Steve’s supporting from home."
"He’s the director of racing, he’s sorting stuff out for the team," Stannard added. "He’s working on the race programme for next year, the signings, the planning and stuff like that."
