Tour de France hope? Onley reportedly joins Ineos camp after dramatic ravine crash

The 23-year-old British rider crashed on the descent towards the foot of the final climb to Crest Voland, with around 10km remaining on stage 6 of the French stage race. Onley had gone over a roadside barrier and landed in the crown of a tree, avoiding a fall deep into a ravine. 

Team principal Sir Dave Brailsford explained how the team were able to help Onley avoid falling into a ravine dozens of metres deep. 

"Our staff in the team car, together with people from the race organisation, were able to very carefully lift him back up from the tree," Brailsford told Wielerflits. “He was incredibly lucky. It could have ended much worse.”

With the serious nature of the incident and the proximity to the start of the Tour de France, the incident leave question marks over whether Onley will be able to make the start on July 4. 

On a positive note,Velo has reported that Onley is back on the bike at a pre-Tour training camp with his Netcompany-Ineos teammates, giving his Tour hopes a boost and confirming that he is heading in the right direction with his recovery.

However, the report suggests that team doctors will continue to monitor Onley’s condition before making a final decision on his potential participation at the Tour.

Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) also suffered a crash earlier on stage 6 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which forced him to abandon the race. Tests that followed confirmed that Tarling had fractured his collarbone, putting his Tour participation in doubt.

Last year, Onley finished fourth at the Tour de France for Picnic PostNL, becoming the eighth British rider to finish in the Top 10 of the GC, and the youngest to do so at 22 years old.

In the 2025 off-season, Onley made the switch to the British team to lead their Tour de France challenge, renewing the team’s hopes of having a British GC contender following Geraint Thomas’s retirement.

Netcompany-Ineos claimed fourth at the opening Grand Tour of the season at the Giro d’Italia with Thymen Arensman, and will be hoping to make their mark at La Grande Boucle, which kicks off with a team time trial in Barcelona on July 4.