Geraint Thomas has described Netcompany Ineos’ 2026 Tour de France as “tough going” after Oscar Onley’s injury forced a late rethink and the team ended the race without a stage win.
The new frontman had been handed a first major Tour managing the riders after replacing Dave Brailsford, and the week-to-week reality proved very different from the plan. Netcompany had arrived with fresh optimism after becoming a co-sponsor, while Onley’s fourth place in 2025 had given the squad real reason to believe a podium challenge was possible.
Thomas: “a lot of learning on the job”
Thomas said the situation changed sharply once Onley was ruled out in June, with the team forced to reimagine its lineup and switch its focus from overall ambition to stage hunting. “It was a baptism of fire,” he said of his first Tour in charge, adding that there had been “a lot of learning on the job”.
That is the key point for Netcompany Ineos. The team did not enter the race expecting to dominate every day, but it also did not expect to lose its leader before the Tour had properly begun. From there, the target became far more limited.
From podium hopes to survival
Without Onley as a contender for the general classification, the emphasis moved towards individual stages. Thomas made clear how hard that is at the Tour, saying: “It’s easy to talk about [winning] stages but there are so few anyway that it is tough. But it’s the Tour, it’s not supposed to be easy.”
He also reflected on the scale of the challenge when the race began to tilt towards the strongest all-round teams. By the finishes on Alpe d'Huez, Thomas said the Tour had become about survival. He added: “Without being defeatist, you’re not exactly racing ‘Pog’ on days like that,” a nod to the dominance of Tadej Pogacar and UAE Emirates.
A harder race, fewer chances
The conditions only made the task more difficult. The route was tougher, average speeds were higher and the race offered fewer clear openings. Thomas said: “Racing evolves and you need to adapt with it. Everyone’s been looking for opportunities because they’re few and far between.”
That adaptation was visible from the first stage, when Netcompany Ineos came close to winning the team time trial in Montjuic. It showed they could still compete, but also how thin the margins were once the Tour settled into its rhythm.
There were still reasons to believe the rebuild has a future. Egan Bernal was brought in to improve the climbing strength of the squad, and Thomas stressed the importance of staying flexible rather than clinging to one plan. The team may not have won a stage, but the former rider’s first big Tour in management made clear how quickly ambitions can change once injury and race pressure intervene.
For Thomas, the message was simple: the Tour remains the hardest place to control, and Netcompany Ineos learned that again in 2026.
