'A lot of lessons' - Oscar Onley reflects on stop-start first season at Ineos

Oscar Onley’s debut season at Netcompany-Ineos was an exercise in perseverance. Every time the Scot looked like building up a head of steam, some fresh obstacle cascaded into his path and forced him to start from scratch. 

Even when he finally built up some momentum at the Vuelta a España, there were brakes on his progress. A bout of illness in the first week was followed by a crash in the second. Although Onley made it to Granada in sixth overall and wearing the white jersey of best young rider, there was a nagging sense that he might have done more at the Vuelta under the right circumstances.

Onley brought the curtain down on his season with 14th place at Il Lombardia on Saturday, and he acknowledged that his first year at Ineos had brought more lessons than he would have liked. 

Illness forced him to abandon Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie, while a heavy crash at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes saw him miss the Tour, where he had been slated to lead Ineos’ GC challenge. 

“The first half definitely wasn’t how I wanted it to go,” Onley told media including Domestique on the eve of Il Lombardia. “A lot of it I couldn’t control. I got injured or sick a couple of times, which kind of affected things. 

“But then from the summer, it’s gone better. I still wasn’t fully satisfied with my Vuelta. Again, I had a couple of crashes there, which affected me more than I thought I did, looking back. I feel really good in the team. That didn’t take long to fit in and learn everything there. I’m satisfied, but I wanted more from the season.”

Ineos prised Onley away from Picnic-PostNL last December after he placed fourth at the 2025 Tour, and it was a transfer that made sense for both parties. After years of drift in July, Dave Brailsford’s team was in dire need of a figurehead for the Tour, while Onley might have felt a move to an organisation of greater resources than Picnic was essential to his progress as a Grand Tour contender.

“I think the support I have in the team here, with the riders and also all the staff and everything around the team as well, it’s something that can really bring me up a level,” he said.

Onley got off to a fast start at Ineos, going toe-to-toe with Paul Seixas and Juan Ayuso in a high-quality edition of the Volta ao Algarve, but the remainder of his spring was interrupted by bouts of ill fortune. 

Missing the Tour allowed Onley to reset his campaign, and there were distinctly promising signs from the Vuelta a Burgos, where he claimed his lone victory of the year at Pineda de la Sierra. 

Later, an assured display on the Alto de Aitana on the day after Tadej Pogačar abandoned the Vuelta suggested that Onley could contend for the final podium – or more – but he fell away as the race drew on, his challenge was hindered by crashes. If nothing else, battling to Granada with the white jersey was testament to Onley’s resolve.

“It’s very rare you have a perfect season,” he said. “I think looking back, last year was as good as it kind of gets in terms of the lack of setbacks. I think I’ve learned a lot this year in how to kind of manage myself and the calendar I do, and I think also how to manage myself during these Grand Tours as well. 

“Like I had some sickness in the first week and then the crash in the second week. It’s about learning how to recover during a Grand Tour, which is something that’s, well, very hard to do, but there’s definitely ways you can kind of help your body as much as possible. There’s definitely a lot of lessons.”