Setback for Ineos as Onley pulls out of Paris-Nice with overnight illness

Ineos posted to social media ahead of the sixth stage to announce the news, stating, “Unfortunately Oscar Onley has developed illness symptoms overnight and will not start stage 6 of Paris Nice today. We wish him a speedy recovery.”

It’s not the first setback in this year’s Race to the Sun for Onley, as the 23-year-old was one of the many fallers on the attritional stage 4. Onley finished 18th on the day, slipping from 3rd in the GC to 14th. 

Following the conclusion of stage 5, Onley had risen four places in the GC to 10th overall, 11:23 behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike).

Ineos Grenadiers were one of only two teams, alongside EF Education-EasyPost, to have multiple riders in the top 10, with Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers) on the cusp of the podium in 4th at 6:09 behind Vingegaard, but importantly, 19 seconds behind Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) in 3rd.

Vauquelin’s upward trajectory at the race gives the Frenchman a solid shot at finishing on the podium, but he will now miss the support of the rider who finished 4th at the Tour de France last summer.

Onley isn’t the only rider who didn’t take to the start of stage 6, as Spanish champion, Iván Romeo (Movistar), who was another victim of the crashes on stage 4, and featured in the breakaway on stage 5, didn’t take to the start with Movistar confirming he “had a bad night with stomach discomfort.”

Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) and Rick Pluimers (Tudor) also didn’t take to the start line on the sixth stage in Barbentane. 

Despite the setback, the British team can reflect positively on the success of stage 3’s team time trial, where they narrowly pipped Lidl-Trek to the stage victory by two seconds. It marked the team’s ninth victory of the season, the most they’ve had at this time of the year since 2023. 

Onley started life at Ineos Grenadiers with a positive showing in Portugal at the Volta ao Algarve, where he finished 4th amongst a very competitive field with fellow new signing Vauquelin just behind in 5th. 

The next race on Onley’s provisional schedule, dependent on his recovery, is the Volta a Catalunya, which kicks off on March 23 in Sant Feliu de Guíxols. 

The provisional start list is exceptionally strong with Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) among the names set to take to the start.