‘It Definitely Wasn’t Good’: Ineos Vowed the Transition Was Over. 2026 Shows It’s Only Just Starting.

Netcompany Ineos is on the way back to its former glories – still.

Speaking this week on his Watts Occurring podcast, team head of racing Geraint Thomas insisted that 2026 was only the start of the newly financed squad’s quest to regain relevance in the WorldTour.

“It’s all about that progression, and it’s where you’re starting from as well. This might be a headline now, but let’s say we’re at 20 percent of what we used to be, to pick a number. You can’t just go from 20 to 80 straight away,” Thomas told his co-host Luke Rowe.

“It’s like climbing a ladder, isn’t it? It’s the same thing with a team, and I think we’ve gone up the ladder a couple of steps, for sure,” Thomas said. “We slipped a few times as well, but that’s all part of it.”

2026 was promised to be the year for Netcompany Ineos.

Seven years after the last of its seven Tour de France titles, this would be the year of reboot.

Thomas, freshly retired from a career devoted to the team, was bringing his racing nous and good vibes to the directors’ chair.

Former yellow jersey mastermind Dave Brailsford was back pulling the strings.

The mid-season arrival of Danish IT brand Netcompany offered a path back to superteam status with its pledge to invest €100m over five years.

As Thomas said at the start of the year: “There’s been a lot of talk about transition – ‘the team’s in transition, blah blah blah. The transition’s over now, mate.”

UAE Emirates XRG, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and Visma Lease a Bike were warned.

Thomas sees wins beyond the results sheet

Netcompany Ineos learned that transition takes time in an era defined by a small few phenoms.

In 2026, the team finished eighth in the WorldTour rankings, only a squeak ahead of Uno-X Mobility and Soudal Quick-Step.

A total of 36 victories through the season was the team’s best return since 2023, but strip away the filler and it’s not so pretty.

Eight of that haul came from national championships, the bulk were lower-ranked races, and only 13 were from the WorldTour.

That baker’s dozen is only a fraction of what was gobbled by the teams Netcompany Ineos is aspiring to beat. Tadej Pogačar, Isaac del Toro, Jonas Vingegaard, and Matthew Brennan powered UAE and Visma to two and three times that number, respectively.

Looking further forward, Netcompany Ineos’ two marquee wins in 2026 came from a rider who’s on the way out.

After a sensational victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the inevitable time trial victory at the Giro d’Italia, Filippo Ganna is leaving for Lidl-Trek this winter. More on him later.

Godon, Onley, Vauquelin: Mixed fortunes for three new captains

Thomas insisted the results didn’t tell the whole story as he appraised his team’s season on Watts Occurring.

The Welshman highlighted how a myriad of mechanicals and crashes pulled the handbrake on a young team focused on three newly recruited captains.

“I think it’s all learning as well. Even though results weren’t particularly sensational, we had a lot of wins, but they were smaller wins,” he said.

Thomas’ positive spin on the season was well founded.

Oscar Onley, Dorian Godon, and Kévin Vauquelin all came to the team in the winter to fill high-stakes leadership positions.

They all showed up.

Godon harvested victories in tough guy sprints. The Frenchman was one of the revelations of the season.

Onley was denied the chance to do what he was signed for – lead the team at the Tour de France – due to injury. But the rising young Scot rebounded for sixth overall and the white jersey at La Vuelta.

Vauquelin managed to get at least something on the board at the Giro d’Abruzzo after he was whacked by sickness in summer and lost time on day 1 of the Tour de France.

It’s good, but it’s not good enough for a former powerhouse that still judges itself against its own past.

Netcompany Ineos is looking beyond the results

Thomas was confident that there were green shoots behind a season of misfortunes and what-ifs.

Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal put the team into the picture at the Giro d’Italia while its three new leaders began to acclimate to the team.

“People have said, ‘you can say was our season good or bad?’ And purely from results, I’d say it definitely wasn’t good,” Thomas said.

“I feel like Dorian, Oscar, and Kévin are all new to the team. That takes a bit of gelling,” he said. “The fact that they executed is a big plus. I think they all learned. And I think they’ll all take that forward, and it’s part of that growing. They’re all still young.”

The long-promised transition isn’t over. It’s only just starting for a team with a new identity and new leaders.

What happens in 2027? Ganna leads exodus of talent

The question is, can the transition hold momentum into 2027?

Eight months after Netcompany bowled in, and a year after the arrival of Thomas, Onley and Godon, the team is facing more overhaul.

Ganna, one of the team’s biggest stars and a guaranteed source of time trial wins, broke his contract to join Lidl-Trek.

Rising U.S. talents Artem Shmidt, Andrew August, and Magnus Sheffield are all leaving as part of a talent exodus that’s seen eight riders find contracts elsewhere.

Also, the retirement of Ben Swift feels symbolic. The 39-year-old was the one survivor of the original Sky team that once upended and then dominated the sport.

Netcompany Ineos 2026-27

Noval is the future for Netcompany Ineos?

Netcompany Ineos might struggle to fill the void left by so many significant departees in 2027.

After rumor of poaching Paul Seixas flittered out, the wannabe super team followed a moneyball recruitment policy focused on young talents or mid-career journeymen.

Benjamín Noval is the headliner of the nine arrivals confirmed so far, despite him only being 18 years old. Netcompany Ineos saw so much potential in the kid who dominated junior worlds that it reportedly gave him the biggest contract ever for a rider his age.

Speaking at the time, team CEO John Allert said Noval is the team’s future.

“At the heart of our team is a belief in long-term development and investing in the next generation of talent. Benjamín represents that future – and we’re delighted he’s chosen to grow and develop with us,” Allert said.

“The foundations we will put in place for him ahead of 2027 will be designed to support performance but also his growth as an athlete and individual.”

In an era defined by Gen-Z phenoms, Netcompany Ineos’ complete transition might rest in Noval’s cleats.