Two wins in two days for Ineos Grenadiers: 'Like waiting for a bus and two come along at once'

Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe revel in an upturn of results for the British WorldTeam, as Tom Pidcock and Tobias Foss deliver back-to-back victories

10:43, Tuesday 16th April 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

Share

Tom Pidcock (left) and Tobias Foss (right) brought Ineos Grenadiers to the top step of the podium on Sunday and Monday, respectively

In beating Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla) and Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) to the line in the opening stage of the Tour of the Alps on Monday, Tobias Foss made it two wins in as many days for Ineos Grenadiers.

After a tough opening few months of the season in which wins appeared to be at a premium for the British WorldTeam, the victories of Foss and Tom Pidcock - in Sunday's Amstel Gold Race - came as a sweet relief.

"It's been a tough start for the team, you can't deny that. We've been knocking on the door, we've had some great results, some great performances and I always had confidence that these big wins were going to come, but until they're in the bank they're not there," acknowledged Luke Rowe on the latest episode of Watts Occurring.

Presented by Rowe and his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Geraint Thomas, Monday evening's podcast saw Rowe and Thomas discuss Pidcock's victory at Amstel Gold Race and stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps, in which Thomas placed in sixth, just a few seconds behind Foss.

Ineos Grenadiers' team for the Giro d'Italia will be largely made up of the riders appearing at the Tour of the Alps, and after recently coming down from a Sierra Nevada altitude camp, the performances of both Thomas and Foss on Monday are indicative of the team's confidence and spirit heading into the Italian block.

"We've got a group with all the riders from the team and that was pinging off, it's good for the whole group," Thomas said of their recent victories. "It's a positive spiral rather than a negative one. When you're not winning, everyone starts talking like the press and maybe in the team it filters through."

Prior to Pidcock's win on Sunday, Ineos Grenadiers had only taken three victories in the first three months of racing, the first of those being Jhonatan Narváez's Ecuadorian National Championships success. Josh Tarling had won a curtailed time trial at O Gran Camiño, but Carlos Rodrïguez's stage victory at Itzulia Basque Country had been their first WorldTour win of the year.

Less than 24 hours after Pidcock's Amstel Gold Race success, Foss' Tour of the Alps stage victory on Monday marked the first time that the team has claimed two wins in as many days since July of last year.

"It's great for the team, a great win for Tom and success breeds success," said Rowe of Pidcock's Amstel Gold Race victory. "Straightaway off the back of that, Tobias won today. If Tom hadn't have won yesterday, then yeah he probably still would have won but I think our confidence within the team is massive.

"You see one guy winning and you go 'right I want a piece of that as well.' You struggle, struggle, struggle, and then you have one big win, bam, the next day another win. It's like waiting for a bus and two come along at once."

Read more:

Emotions for Foss and opportunities for Ganna in Italy

With five victories to their name for the season, Ineos Grenadiers should be confident of adding another win or two before the end of the week, with Pidcock challenging for the title at Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Thomas, Foss and Filippo Ganna leading the line in the Tour of the Alps.

Stage 2 at the latter will provide a first big opportunity for Ganna on Tuesday.

"Pippo is keen, we're going to go for that," said Thomas.

"I'm happy to do whatever, I'm happy to help Pippo [and] help Tobias because with the Giro coming it's always nice to help those boys that are going to be helping me for three weeks. But obviously if there's a chance I'd love to have a go for it as well."

Monday marked Foss' first victory in a professional road race in Europe

Both Foss and Thomas are well placed in the general classification and will hope to play the numbers game over the coming stages, but for Foss, this week has already been extra special for delivering his first win since being diagnosed with glandular fever in the winter.

"I have been longing for my first pro win in a road race so that was super nice and emotional in itself. But you have no idea how good it is after last year, it is a very special feeling," he told Wielerflits after stage 1.

"I took my time to come back by taking a winter break of no less than eight weeks and I'm actually still recovering. I still feel on the way back after a year of bad luck."

Making his own recovery from a concussion suffered in E3 Saxo Classic, Rowe will continue to cheer on his teammates from afar for the final four days of racing. The Welshman is expecting the buses to keep coming for Ineos Grenadiers.

"It's looking promising for us now, we had a tricky start and hopefully in a week's time we've got another one-day and the Tour of the Alps in the bag."

For the latest news, interviews and analysis from the world of professional cycling, be sure to check out the Racing tab on the GCN website and visit our essential guide to the Spring Classics to stay up to date with all of the action from cycling's most exciting season.