'Up in the air' - Onley admits future unclear amid Ineos interest

Jack Haig seals long-awaited move to Ineos GrenadiersAfter spending a chunk of his off-season in Australia, Oscar Onley returns to Europe this week to attend a team training camp, but there is some doubt over whether he will still be a Picnic-PostNL rider when the 2026 campaign gets under way.

Daniel Benson reported last week that Ineos Grenadiers are attempting to extricate Onley from his existing contract with Picnic-PostNL, which expires at the end of 2027. While Picnic-PostNL have not commented publicly on the possible transfer, Onley acknowledged that his future was not entirely clear when he spoke to Cyclingnews at the Tour of Bright over the weekend.

“For now, yes,” Onley said when asked if he would be a Picnic-PostNL rider in 2026. “We’ll see. But yeah, it’s still things up in the air a little bit.”

There is a clear logic to Ineos’ interest in signing Onley. They haven’t put a rider on the podium of the Tour de France since 2022, while the 23-year-old placed a fine fourth overall at this year’s race. Signing Onley would also give the team a British team leader and thus help to offset the losses of Tom Pidcock to Q36.5 and Geraint Thomas to retirement over the past year. 

On Monday, Ineos confirmed the arrival of Jack Haig for 2026, while Daniel Benson has reported that Sam Welsford is currently on hand at the team’s training camp in Oliva, Spain. If and when Welsford’s arrival is confirmed, Ineos would still have one spot left open on their roster for 2026.

It remains to be seen, however, if Picnic-PostNL will be willing to entertain the idea of parting with one of the most promising Grand Tour riders in the peloton. Onley turned professional with the team in 2023, having previously spent two seasons in their development set-up.

“It’s quite obvious that there's going to be interest in me after coming fourth in the Tour, and there’s been, I think, probably 15 teams that have reached out to my manager or reached out to the team directly,” Onley said. “And you know… You also have to capitalise on what I’ve done this year, but, yeah, I can’t really say so much just now.”

Onley also told Cyclingnews that he had not yet discussed his 2026 race programme with Picnic-PostNL beyond lining out at the Tour Down Under as he has done for the past two seasons.

“That will happen next week, when we’re at team camp, which is normal at the December camp, to talk about the year,” said Onley, who this weekend placed 19th overall at the Tour of Bright, a three-day, club-run race in Australia. The event was won by Luke Plapp (Jayco-ALula).