Steve Cummings, Ineos Grenadiers’ director of racing, is just not going to be present on the Vuelta a España, the last word males’s Grand Tour of the 12 months.
Whereas Ineos say that he was under no circumstances presupposed to be on the Vuelta, Cummings’ absence on the underside for the race, which begins in Portugal on Saturday, signifies that he has now been omitted of the employees’s in-person race administration group for all three Grand Excursions all through the 2024 season after he was in a roundabout means involved with the Giro d’Italia or Tour de France.
The 43-year-old was promoted to director of racing ahead of the 2024 season, after a shakeup of the employees’s administration kickstarted by Rod Ellingworth’s departure.
In 2023, Cummings was present at every the Tour and the Vuelta. Inside the former, Carlos Rodríguez was their highest finisher in fifth whole and the employees acquired two phases, whereas throughout the latter the employees didn’t impact fundamental classification, nonetheless accomplished top-five on 5 utterly totally different phases.
Whereas it has not however been formally confirmed, Biking Weekly understands that Christian Knees will head up the British-registered employees’s Vuelta DS pool. Moreover it’s understood that Cummings was presupposed to return to on-the-ground DS work on the Deutschland Tour, which takes place from 21-24 August, nonetheless his programme is unknown.
Ineos Grenadiers may be spearheaded on the race by Rodríguez and Thymen Arensman, who will every be aiming for the podium at least, with Josh Tarling utilizing a Grand Tour for the first time.
When Cummings was not taken to the Tour, the employees insisted that he was engaged on the race from residence, whereas Zak Dempster was the lead directeur sportif on the freeway.
Viewers of the most recent Tour de France: Unchained Netflix assortment observed strain between Cummings and star rider Tom Pidcock when discussing rider administration duties lastly 12 months’s race, which led to speculation about their relationship. Neither may be on the Vuelta.
Pidcock instructed Biking Weekly on the Tour employees presentation that he felt Cummings absence would have a negligible impression on the employees. “I don’t assume it’ll have an impact,” Pidcock talked about. “Points change, it’s most likely not for me to comment.”
Ineos lastly accomplished the race with no stage win for the first time since 2014, with their main fundamental classification hope, Rodríguez, ending in seventh, 25 minutes down on the eventual winner, Tadej Pogačar.
