Geraint Thomas points to Ineos' budget issues but underlying problems run deep
Watts Occurring podcast shines a light on how UAE Team Emirates has overtaken the British team's financial clout but money isn't everything
Another week, and another excellent podcast in which Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe wax lyrical about the current climate within Ineos Grenadiers. As ever, the Watts Occurring podcast is a must-listen, with both riders making several important points.
This week the subject of team budgets was brought up, with Thomas claiming that UAE Team Emirates’ eight-rider budget at the Tour de France probably accounted for 80 per cent of Ineos Grenadiers’ entire rider spend in 2024.
Of course, no actual figures were given and we have to take all this with a pinch of salt based on the assumption that Ineos’ bosses weren’t off-mic and holding up cue cards for the WattsOccuring duo, but Thomas’ main argument was that Ineos has been outflanked and outgunned in the recruitment department.
And the former Tour winner has a point. Ineos’ budget hasn’t kept up with the astronomical markers laid out by UAE over the last few years and at best the British team’s coffers have stagnated, while Lidl-Trek, Decathlon, Red Bull, Visma and others invested in current talent, as well as development programmes.