How the Ineos and Hot Tubes partnership will benefit American talent 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
We talked to Ian Boswell, who raced for both teams and advised on the new link-up
Making the transition to the WorldTour can be a daunting prospect for any young rider, no matter what level of talent he or she has.
It’s not just about the huge leap in terms of watts and race craft. It also encompasses all the non-race elements, such as moving away from home, being responsible for your welfare, and, of course, stepping into the big bad world of full-time employment.
For US riders that experience can be even harder. A trip home to see friends and family isn’t just a quick two-hour flight or short car journey, while the language barriers and culture shocks can be immense.
The sport is littered with highly rated US prospects who have come through the junior or U23 domestic scene, only for many of those riders to wilt and eventually crack. For every rider that makes it, dozens don’t.
So when the partnership between Ineos Grenadiers and the American junior squad, Hot Tubes, was announced last week, the news was met with excitement and praise.
Ian Boswell, who these days is better known as a US gravel racer, wore the colours of both teams during his road days, graduating through the Hot Tubes system before eventually spending five years at Team Sky between 2013 and 2017.
He now sits on a board of advisers for Hot Tubes and counselled team founder Toby Stanton on the potential of a more structured relationship with both teams. In the last few seasons, there has been a more informal link between the squads, with Ineos bringing on board former Hot Tubes alumni Andrew August, Magnus Sheffield and Artem Shmidt but without having a platform of shared resources, as there will be in 2025.
For Boswell, the deeper relationship between his two former teams will help solidify a steady pathway for US talent to breakthrough into the WorldTour.