Geraint Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France, has labelled the management structure of Ineos Grenadiers as “like a coalition government” and described his Tour experience this year as “up and down”.
Thomas, who finished third in this year’s Giro d’Italia, is 25th overall, 9min 33sec behind the leader, Tadej Pogacar, of UAE Emirates.
The Welshman is ostensibly racing in a support role to the designated Ineos Grenadiers team leader, Carlos Rodríguez. The team have yet to win a Grand Tour since their former team principal, Dave Brailsford, was appointed as director of sport to Ineos in December 2021.
Asked if he was comfortable with a series of further changes to the team’s management structure, Thomas paused and said: “It’s challenging.
“Before, it was a lot more straightforward with Dave at the top. There was clarity with everything. There was a simple process whereas now it’s got a lot more complicated.
“It’s like a coalition government. “You need a majority. Even if you didn’t agree with stuff [before] at least there was a clear ‘boom, boom, boom’ – that’s it, move on – rather than this grey area.”
There was a surprising change to the team’s management structure on the eve of this year’s race, when the director of racing, Steve Cummings, was left at home by the team.
The former professional was said to be “supporting the team remotely,” and Thomas’s teammate, Tom Pidcock, said of Cummings’s surprise absence: “I don’t think it’ll have an impact.”
Thomas, who after competing in the past four Olympics, was not selected by Team GB for Paris 2024, said he had been fending off a sense of drift during the race. “In the past, I’ve come here and known exactly where I’m at and there’s been a minimum standard every day,” he said. “I can still do that, meet minimum expectation, but how I feel doing it, is just so up and down at the minute.”
Thomas said he was disappointed not to be going to the Olympics. “I expected it, to be honest,” he said. “We had a call in March and they said [the selection] was based on one day races, but I said, ‘well, I’m only doing Strade Bianche and I’m helping the team so I’m not going to stand out on the results sheet.’ I get the feeling that is all they look at, most of the time.”
Thomas who won gold medals on the track in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012, maintained that his racing know-how made him worth selection for the men’s Olympic road race.
“Even though I feel up and down here, I still believe that, on the day, I could contribute to the team, especially with there being no radios and having a bit of experience.”
