Steve Cummings exclusive: I don't feel like I've got anything to prove
'Tom and I never had a problem' says former Director of Racing at Ineos Grenadiers
Writing about Steve Cummings over the last six months has been incredibly tricky.
No one would talk. The void created by his sidelining at Ineos Grenadiers was filled with speculation and hearsay, and the most inexplicable decision of all - why Ineos ushered him to the sidelines on the eve of the Tour de France - remained unanswered.
At the Jayco AlUla camp in Altea, Spain, I sat down with Cummings for one of his first face-to-face interviews since departing Ineos Grenadiers.
By this point, it was already clear that Cummings couldn’t share a huge amount of information regarding what went down at Ineos Grenadiers.
But rather than find Cummings to be bitter or disillusioned at what happened, I found someone who remained deeply passionate about the sport and his new sports director role at Jayco AlUla - a team that reached out to him once it became clear that he was on the market and looking for a new role in 2025.
“I feel good. I’m happy to be here; it’s a pleasure, and I feel grateful. I’m excited by the goals of the team and the roster, and there’s a good connection with the development team, who are staying just down the road,” Cummings said right off the bat.
A little rehearsed, perhaps, but given the fact that almost a dozen journalists were going to ask him the same questions, his preparation was justified.