Steve Cummings, Ineos Grenadiers’ director of racing, is not going to be current on the Vuelta a España, the ultimate males’s Grand Tour of the yr.
Whereas Ineos say that he was by no means presupposed to be on the Vuelta, Cummings’ absence on the bottom for the race, which begins in Portugal on Saturday, implies that he has now been ignored of the workforce’s in-person race administration group for all three Grand Excursions in the course of the 2024 season after he was circuitously concerned with the Giro d’Italia or Tour de France.
The 43-year-old was promoted to director of racing forward of the 2024 season, after a shakeup of the workforce’s administration kickstarted by Rod Ellingworth’s departure.
In 2023, Cummings was current at each the Tour and the Vuelta. Within the former, Carlos Rodríguez was their highest finisher in fifth total and the workforce received two levels, whereas within the latter the workforce didn’t have an effect on normal classification, however completed top-five on 5 completely different levels.
Whereas it has not but been formally confirmed, Biking Weekly understands that Christian Knees will head up the British-registered workforce’s Vuelta DS pool. It’s also understood that Cummings was presupposed to return to on-the-ground DS work on the Deutschland Tour, which takes place from 21-24 August, however his programme is unknown.
Ineos Grenadiers can be spearheaded on the race by Rodríguez and Thymen Arensman, who will each be aiming for the rostrum not less than, with Josh Tarling using a Grand Tour for the primary time.
When Cummings was not taken to the Tour, the workforce insisted that he was engaged on the race from house, whereas Zak Dempster was the lead directeur sportif on the highway.
Viewers of the current Tour de France: Unchained Netflix sequence noticed rigidity between Cummings and star rider Tom Pidcock when discussing rider management duties finally yr’s race, which led to hypothesis about their relationship. Neither can be on the Vuelta.
Pidcock informed Biking Weekly on the Tour workforce presentation that he felt Cummings absence would have a negligible influence on the workforce. “I don’t assume it’ll have an effect,” Pidcock mentioned. “Issues change, it’s not likely for me to remark.”
Ineos finally completed the race with out a stage win for the primary time since 2014, with their principal normal classification hope, Rodríguez, ending in seventh, 25 minutes down on the eventual winner, Tadej Pogačar.
