Luke Rowe signed a new two-year contract to remain with Ineos Grenadiers through 2025, keeping the veteran on the WorldTour team for 14 consecutive seasons. The British team also confirmed they would retain 23-year-old Kim Heiduk for the next two years.
The deal keeps Rowe as the third-longest tenured rider on the squad, continuing alongside Britons Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas, who joined the team in its inception as Sky Procycling in 2010 and also have contracts through 2025.
"This team has been my home for my entire career and to ride on with them is a real honour. I’ve been fortunate to play my part in some of the brilliant results we’ve achieved in the past and will do the same for the very exciting future to come,” Rowe said on the team’s Instagram account on Tuesday.
"My time as a Grenadier has included some incredible memories and I can’t wait to create many more. As one of the older, wiser heads, along with the likes of G and Swifty, we have a real opportunity to help the incredible array of young talent in the team as we look to achieve our goals.”
Rowe is one of the hardest workers in the peloton. As a captain on the road, he can work all day at the front of a race, be it in crosswinds on flat stretches or across rolling terrain. Of his 10 Grand Tour appearances, eight have been at the Tour de France.
The 33-year-old is capable across all terrain including the cobbles and spring Classics. He’s finished 11th or better at Omloop Het Niewsblad, top 10 twice at Tour of Flanders, eighth overall at the 2015 Paris-Roubaix and was third at the 2017 Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.
The Welshman was eager to ride his third Vuelta a España this past season in support of Thomas. The outspoken Rowe disclosed that he did not make the cut for the Vuelta on a podcast chat with Thomas, saying he was disappointed as he had gone “all in” in preparations and was “gutted” not to make the cut.
“You have setbacks in life and in sport, don’t you? But I think what you’ve got to remember is, it’s a bike race. Let’s keep things in context. A career is full of highs and lows, and you can be going really well, looking forward to great things and then the next moment told you can’t do them.”
Now Rowe will look for more great things with Ineos for another season around the corner in just a few months, also serving as a mentor, like Thomas and Swift, to young riders like Heiduk, who is eager to “grow into a better rider” after two seasons with Ineos.
Heiduk moved from the Continental-level Team Lotto - Kern Haus to Ineos in 2022 as the reigning German U23 national road race champion. In his first season riding a majority of elite men’s one-day and stage races, he finished top 10 on stages at Deutschland Tour, Tour de Wallonie and CRO Race.
In 2023 Heiduk continued to develop as a versatile rider with a podium at Tour of Austria and seventh at Per Sempre Alfredo. He completed his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España.
"In one way, the last two years with the Team have gone super fast, then in another it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer because of how happy I am here,” the 23-year-old said.
"In this team there is a lot of experience and it’s an honour to learn from some of the best riders in the peloton. Especially from riders like Luke [Rowe], G [Geraint Thomas] and Kwiato [Michal Kwiatkowski], just to name a few, they share their experiences on and off the bike. Every day it feels special to be a rider on such a successful team, it really means a lot to me."
