Alarm at Thomas & Co: Ineos dominance is crumbling

The newspapers are already writing about the “end of the Ineos empire”, experts and fans are happy about the sudden weakness: before the decisive week at the Tour de France, the British multi-million team around defending champion Geraint Thomas and super talent Egan Bernal is at least numbered .

The French sports daily “L'Equipe” described: “An atmosphere of revolution surrounded the Tourmalet.” On the legendary mountain, the dominant move of Ineos (formerly Sky) suddenly no longer dictated the pace, instead the Welshman Thomas became orderly on the mountain suspended.

Unlucky since the takeover Since the takeover of the long-time winner Sky by the chemical company Ineos at the beginning of May, the racing team has seemed to be plagued by bad luck. At the Giro in May, Bernal should have won his first major tour before he was forced out with a broken collarbone. For the tour, four-time winner Chris Froome was considered the biggest contender for victory until he hit a wall during training at 54 kilometers per hour and had to retire injured. Now Thomas and the Colombian Bernal have to take on the increasingly strong competition.

Thomas, who was badly hit in the Pyrenees, said on the rest day in Nimes: “We are still doing very well. We're not in yellow and we're not at the front all day. But there are several ways to win the Tour de France. We are in a super strong position.” As second behind yellow-carrier Julian Alaphilippe, the 33-year-old is indeed at the forefront, but his recent appearances raise doubts about his form. The 22-year-old Bernal is currently fifth, but looks like the stronger of the two Ineos options in the high mountains.

Team boss Dave Brailsford appeared completely relaxed in front of the assembled world press. “We are the only team with two drivers for the overall classification. It's a very interesting situation. It’s a nice position to be in,” Brailsford said. He rejected questions about the weakness of his team, which has been so strong for years, saying that the difficult third week with three Alpine stages is still to come. “The really high mountains will only come in the next few days,” emphasized Brailsford.

The winners of Ineos' weakness are not only the rivals around Alaphilippe, Buchmann and Tourmalet winner Thibaut Pinot. The tour doesn't seem as predictable as in previous years, but rather exciting and varied. “Nothing better could have happened. “It annoyed me how they’ve trudged through the race in recent years,” said former Tour winner Greg Lemond about Ineos and the new racing situation.

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Alarm at Thomas & Co: Ineos dominance is crumbling

Experts and fans are happy about the weakness of Ineos' long-standing dominators. The tour therefore feels more exciting than it has in a long time. There is still optimism among the defending champions.

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