Ineos Grenadiers stuck to their announced two-leader general classification strategy for the 2024 Tour de France after arriving in Florence on Wednesday for the Grand Départ, with Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas confirming they will target stage victories and support protected riders Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal.
Thomas is the experienced veteran and a former Tour winner in the Ineos Grenadiers quartet. He finished third in the Giro d’Italia and seems ready for a different role in the Tour.
Bernal won the 2019 Tour de France but then his career was interrupted by his terrible training crash. He struggled to be competitive in the 2203 Tour but has reached a far higher, more consistent level in 2024, earning him a GC role alongside Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is a protected team leader after his fifth place in 2023 and consistent 2024 form. Pidcock was sixth at the recent Tour de Suisse and initially talked of targeting the Tour GC, only for the team to change his role.
According to the recently released Netflix 'Tour de France Unchained' series, Pidcock appeared to defy team orders during the 2023 Tour de France and ride his own race, only to suffer in the third week. That sparked suggestions of an internal Pidcock-Rodriguez rivalry.
Yet they questioned the Netflix narrative and sat next to each other in the Ineos Grenadiers press conference, with no sign of animosity. The Briton confirmed his stage hunter role, as he also thinks about the mountain bike race at the Paris Olympic Games.
“I was portrayed as the bad guy…,” Pidcock suggested, claiming that he had not seen the Netflix episode. “It just makes a drama you know and it's not even in chronological order. But at the end of the day, we're racing.
"At the start of the (2023) Tour, me and Carlos were both going for GC. Then at some point, someone comes out on top, and they're the person who's the leader at that point. And that was Carlos. So, it's just a drama. It probably made a good episode, but I was the bad guy. Whatever…”
Rodriguez also played down any tension with Pidcock.
“Unfortunately they wanted to make it entertaining. Maybe they even put some things out of context to create more audience but the relationship between Tom and me is good,” the young Spaniard said, highlighting how Pidcock’s surge to the finish on stage 13 made no difference, while his help later in the Tour was far more important.
“I hope this year Netflix isn’t about us anymore. It's not about us fighting or anything.”
Pidcock is naturally competitive and will try to use talent to win stages during the next three weeks.
“I want to race aggressively, try and win some stages. Initially. I don't want to lose time in GC for the sake of it, but if I need to do that to achieve those goals and winning stages, then that I will later in the race,” he explained, suggesting that his GC hopes had been put back to 2025.
“Maybe you could put it like that. With the Olympics, it is a difficult one. Obviously, Egan and Carlos, and Geraint even if he says he doesn't know where he is, all three are much more experienced riders for GC than me. We can't really go with four guys.
“There are different ways that we can support each other. We want to come out of this race with success, and however that comes is going to benefit us all. But if in the last week and we're fighting for a podium with one of these guys, then we're going to go all in for that for sure.”
Rodriguez was quietly spoken but appeared confident of his Tour de France form and ability.
“We’ll find out during the race…” he joked when asked about what he can achieve this year. “But the feeling in training racing is better than last year and the year before. That's why I feel that I made the state step forward. But we'll find out during the race. I will give my best and try to do everything I can to try to beat them.”
Thomas on Ineos Grenadiers' race strategy
Ineos Grenadiers' rivals naturally include Tadej Pogačar, his powerful UAE Team Emirates squad, and Jonas Vingegaard with Visma-Lease a Bike. Thomas wants to measure Ineos’ 2024 Tour success against the recent winners of the race.
“I'm super excited about the Tour. We’ve got a strong team,” he said, keen not to think about if it is the final Tour of his long career.
“We sat down on the bus briefly, just to hear each other on what we wanted to get from the race and I think it all aligns nicely. Obviously, it's still a challenge. It’s four good guys plus got the rest of the boys as well, like Kwiato and De Plus. I think a lot of guys are capable of winning stages.
“As long as we're all pulling in the same direction, which I'm confident we will be successful. Of course, there'll be bumps in the road, but I think it's just dealing with them as best we can at that time. We're all clear what we're coming to try to achieve.”
Thomas made it clear that Ineos will not ride like Team Sky once did and line out the peloton in the mountains. Now they’re more of the underdog against Pogačar, Vingegaard and others.
“Let's be honest. There's other teams that have more of a weight to take on the race than us and are bigger favourites,” Thomas said. “I think we can race differently as well. It's not like we're just going to pull on the front one by one and so there's one guy left because that's just not going to happen.
"I think Pog is obviously a bigger favourite than us, along with Visma. I don't think the pressure is on us.
“I think it could be my last Tour for sure, but I'll just be focused on the racing. I think I’ll look back once it's all done. I'm just super excited to be here,” he added.
“I missed it last year doing a different programme. It’s exciting for me to be here. It’s what I dreamed of as a kid. I’m looking forward to it in the back of my mind. It could be my last. But as I say, I'm not thinking about that.”
Watch for Thomas going in breaks on key mountain stages to chase a stage victory but also play a team role.
“Potentially we could be up the road, maybe not necessarily have the legs for stage, but then you have the road for helping in other ways. I think the two can work well together.”
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