Ineos Grenadiers claimed its 500th race victory this weekend, thanks to Pauline Ferrand-Prévot winning a French Cup mountain bike race in France.
Since its days as Sky, the squad has become one of the biggest and most successful cycling teams in the world. Amongst its haul of accolades, the team has won multiple Grand Tour titles, including seven Tours de France. From the Tour of Britain to the Arctic Race of Norway, Ineos have won across the world.
Sir Bradley Wiggins won the team’s first Grand Tour, the 2012 Tour de France, and the team has dominated the biggest race in the world for a number of years through Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, and more recently Egan Bernal.
As well as Grand Tour titles, the team has also won a range of major one day races including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Paris-Roubaix and Strade Bianche. Almost all of the team’s wins have been from men, with Ferrand-Prévot only joining in 2023.
“This is so much more than a number – it’s the output of so many people, riders, support staff and partners, especially Pinarello and Kask who’ve been part of every single win – each of whom has given everything for the team,” John Allert, the team’s CEO said to Cycling Weekly. “To all of them I say a massive thank you.”
To mark the team’s 500th win, we have picked out six of the most memorable in recent times.
Tom Pidcock – Strade Bianche 2023
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Winning on Alpe d’Huez at the Tour de France in 2022 was undoubtedly one of Tom Pidcock’s career defining moments to date, although to some, his Strade Bianche victory several months later was arguably more significant and one of Ineos’ biggest successes in recent times.
Pidcock had already won a major one-day race, Brabantse Pijl – and gone close at Amstel Gold – so all the signs pointed to an imminent major one day victory for the Yorkshireman.
In a typical gutsy showing from the then 23-year-old, it arrived in blockbuster fashion on the white gravel roads of Tuscany.
Pidcock took flight on the race’s key gravel sector, the Monte Sante Marie, before powering away towards Siena and a famous victory. At times, it appeared like the select group of chasers were going to reel him in, but Pidcock masterfully controlled the gap to hold on for the win.
Chris Froome – Giro d’Italia 2018, stage 19
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Chris Froome went into the 2018 Giro as one of the hot favourites for victory but, as can happen in any of the Grand Tours, luck wasn’t on his side in the early stages.
Froome crashed during the recon of the opening time trial in Jerusalem and various other events appeared to halt his progress in the race in the opening period. The British rider won the stage that finished on Monte Zoncolan, but going into the mountainous stage 19, he was still significantly down in the general classification on the pink jersey wearer at that time, Simon Yates.
What happened next was simply breathtaking. Froome attacked 80 kilometres from the stage finish on the Colle delle Finestre before going on to win the stage by more than three minutes ahead of second placed Richard Carapaz.
As a result of his huge exploits, Froome pulled on the leader’s jersey and eventually went on to take a memorable overall win in Rome.
Geraint Thomas – Tour de France 2018, stage 12
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Going into stage 12, finishing on Alpe d’Huez, the GC boat had been well and truly rocked at Team Sky after Geraint Thomas had won the first stage of a Tour alpine double header at La Rosière.
Prior to the race, Chris Froome was seen by many as being the team’s leader at the Tour. That undoubtedly changed in the mountains after Thomas left the Alps in the race leader’s yellow jersey and with two more stage wins to add to his collection after doubling up on the slopes of the famous mountain.
Speaking after the stage, Thomas ruled out his chances of overall victory in Paris.
He said: “Honestly no, I just want to enjoy this victory. It’s unbelievable. Even when I was crossing the line I was thinking ‘surely there’s someone in front’. It was just nuts.”
Thomas went on to win the race overall, and famously dropped the microphone at the end of his winners speech on the Champs-Élysées in the French capital.
Egan Bernal – Giro d’Italia 2021, stage 9
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All eyes were on Bernal ahead of the 2021 Giro, as he looked to prove he was much more than just a one off winner of the Tour de France.
The Colombian won Paris-Nice and the Tour in 2019 and many expected him to add a further Grand Tour win to his collection in the years that followed. At the Corsa Rosa, Bernal didn’t disappoint, and further underlined his credentials as one of the most exciting young prospects in cycling at that point.
Bernal took control of the race on stage nine, attacking on the steep final gravel climb to Campo Felice to take a first-ever Grand Tour stage win. He also pulled on the race leader’s pink jersey for his troubles and put time into another pre race favourite, Remco Evenepoel.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider went on to win the race overall, adding a second stage victory on a snow affected stage to Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites.
Ian Stannard – Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2015
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One of Team Sky’s most memorable one day victories was Ian Stannard’s second successive triumph at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
In a four up breakaway, Stannard outfoxed his three compatriots – three Etixx-QuickStep riders, including Tom Boonen – to power away to victory in Ghent.
During the race, the odds seemed very much stacked against the British rider, with Belgian fans rubbing their hands together with glee at the prospect of victory for Boonen.
However, Stannard had the last laugh, distancing two of his rivals, including Boonen, before outsprinting Terpstra for the win.
“I’m certainly not the smartest, but hopefully one of the stronger ones,” he joked afterwards as he reflected on his surprise win.
Michał Kwiatkowski – Milan-San Remo 2017
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Nowadays, Michał Kwiatkowski is perhaps not one of the headline names at Ineos Grenadiers, often taking a support role as opposed to team leadership in races. But in the team’s days as Team Sky, the Polish rider played a significant role at the head of the action.
That was particularly evident in 2017, when Kwiatkowski started his Spring campaign with a bang at Strade Bianche before going on to take a bigger prize, a Milan-San Remo victory.
Kwiatkowski helped the team take a masterful win at the longest race of the year.
After tracking accelerations on the Poggio from his former rival at junior and under-23 level, Peter Sagan, Kwiatkowski outsmarted the Slovakian and Julian Alaphilippe in a three-up sprint on the Via Roma to claim one of the most sought after trophies in men’s professional cycling.
