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 12 months.
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, signifies that he has now been omitted of the staff’s in-person race administration group for all three Grand Excursions throughout the 2024 season after he was in a roundabout way 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 staff’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 staff received two phases, whereas within the latter the staff did not have an effect on basic classification, however completed top-five on 5 completely different phases.
Whereas it has not but been formally confirmed, Biking Weekly understands that Christian Knees will head up the British-registered staff’s Vuelta DS pool. Additionally it is 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 might be spearheaded on the race by Rodríguez and Thymen Arensman, who will each be aiming for the rostrum no less than, with Josh Tarling using a Grand Tour for the primary time.
When Cummings was not taken to the Tour, the staff insisted that he was engaged on the race from residence, whereas Zak Dempster was the lead directeur sportif on the highway.
Viewers of the latest Tour de France: Unchained Netflix collection noticed pressure between Cummings and star rider Tom Pidcock when discussing rider management duties finally 12 months’s race, which led to hypothesis about their relationship. Neither might be on the Vuelta.
Pidcock instructed Biking Weekly on the Tour staff presentation that he felt Cummings absence would have a negligible impression on the staff. “I don’t assume it’ll have an effect,” Pidcock mentioned. “Issues change, it’s probably not for me to remark.”
Ineos finally completed the race with no stage win for the primary time since 2014, with their major basic classification hope, Rodríguez, ending in seventh, 25 minutes down on the eventual winner, Tadej Pogačar.
