Why Oscar Onley is eager to team up with INEOS leader Geraint Thomas

It is one of the most remarkable transfers of this winter: Oscar Onley still had an ongoing contract with Picnic PostNL, but from this year onwards, he will race for INEOS Grenadiers. For the fourth-place finisher of the Tour de France, a dream is coming true. "If you had told me this as a ten-year-old boy, I would never have believed it."

In his first in-depth interview as a rider for INEOS Grenadiers, Onley looks back on the past period. "Everything happened so quickly. I can’t wait to race for the team. Since I started cycling, I have always dreamed of being part of INEOS Grenadiers. As I got older, I saw British cyclists achieve the biggest successes. They were really role models for me."

"They motivated me to get the best out of myself. I grew up watching the Tour victories of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, but Geraint Thomas’s overall win was something else entirely. It might sound strange, but he never won in an ‘easy’ way. Over the past few years, I have seen how hard he works and prepares for races. That is incredibly inspiring."

"Geraint was always a team player who chose to put himself last for others, but in the end, he managed to make the difference himself," Onley said, who is very much looking forward to working with Thomas, who from this year onwards will take on a prominent leadership role within the management of ‘his’ INEOS Grenadiers as Director of Racing.

Mentor
The 2018 Tour winner is expected to provide crucial input in race strategy, rider recruitment and development, and race preparation. "Of course, I have ridden with him in the peloton over the past years and seen up close how important his work was. But also how incredibly tough it is. He never raced for himself, always for the team, and I think that’s fantastic," Onley said.

"I’ve already spoken to him a few times and picked up things from him. He was once a young rider himself and so knows what I’m going through now, and what I can expect in the coming months and years. I can always turn to him. Not only for cycling-related questions but also for how everything works within the team. It’s a completely new environment for me, and it’s always nice to have someone to lean on."