“We didn’t come here to do a GC, but people don’t believe me!” Team boss says “special talent” Oscar Onley’s Tour de France performance is “not surprising” – but admits podium bid is “exceeding expectations”

Before 2012, only two British riders had finished fourth at the men’s Tour de France: Robert Millar, now Pippa York, in 1984, and Bradley Wiggins in 2009. No-one from the UK had ever finished higher.

So, while the yellow jersey triumphs of Wiggins, Froome, and Thomas in the years since may have served to somewhat dilute the impact of Oscar Onley’s ride at this year’s Tour so far, there’s no denying the historic scale of the Scottish rider’s achievements.

In just his second Tour de France, and third career grand tour, 22-year-old Onley has arguably proved the revelation of the race, and especially of a GC battle which – barring something mind-bogglingly dramatic taking place over the next week on the Ventoux and in the Alps – has the whiff of the inevitable about it, thanks to the domineering exploits of the incomparable Tadej Pogačar.

Off the back of a strong Tour de Suisse, which saw him finish third overall despite being losing over three minutes on the opening day, Onley has seemingly upped another level at cycling’s biggest race.

The Picnic PostNL rider enters the final week of the Tour in fourth place on the general classification, nine minutes down on yellow jersey Pogačar and – most importantly – just one minute and 25 seconds off white jersey rival Florian Lipowitz in third place.

After showing his strength on the opening week’s tough, hilly days to Roen and Mûr-de-Bretagne (with only Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Mathieu van der Poel recording better results on those two stages), Onley has proved remarkably consistent as the race hit the higher ground of the Pyrenees.

Firmly embedded within the GC group of favourites on the big climbs, Onley followed up a breakthrough fifth place on the Hautacam with seventh in the Peyragudes mountain time trial and sixth on Superbagnères.

That consistency, and ability and confidence to mix it with the very best, has enabled Onley to steadily climb the overall standings, to the lofty position held by Scotland’s pioneering Tour rider York over four decades ago.

However, despite Onley appearing at home in the podium battle, according to his Picnic PostNL sports director Matt Winston, it was never part of the plan to race for GC at this year’s Tour.

“I’ve said from day one that we weren’t here to fight for the GC,” the British DS told road.cc outside the team bus in Muret.

“We were going to do a relaxed GC, which basically means we’re not going to throw time away. But if we were to lose time, we’d accept that. But as it happened, Oscar had done a fantastic job. He’s been in the race every single day, and now we’re in the position we’re in.”

Asked if the team has changed its tactical approach from chasing breakaways to defending a strong overall position, Winston said: “The mentality is similar – you have to be able to get out of bed and be able to race full gas every day. Obviously the major change for us is on those mountain days, we’ve not been looking for the breakaway, we’ve been focusing on the final climb. And we’ve still got those day results on the final climb from the GC.

“The only difference is we’re not jumping for two hours with Oscar at the start to try to get in the breakaway.

“We have eight riders here and a support crew who are really, really close, and really work in a good way together. Everyone’s super excited about how this Tour has gone. It’s not only been Oscar in the results, it’s been Pavel [Bittner], it’s been Toby [Tobias Lund], it’s been an all-round very strong team performance.”

Reflecting on his team’s performance heading into the final week, Winston said: “I think we’ve done a fantastic Tour de France so far. Nobody expected us to be here, day in day out. We’re exceeding our expectations – and whatever happens in the last week, we can say we’ve had a very good Tour de France.

“We’ve been in the race every day, which is what we came here to do, to focus on those day results, and that’s what’s kept us going throughout the first two weeks, each day having a plan and going out to try and execute that plan, and get the best result possible.

“We wanted to come here and push for those day results, and be in the race every day. And that’s what we’ve done – we’ve been in the top 15 on all but two stages so far. Which is an incredible achievement for a team that’s got six riders who have graduated from our development team.

“They’re still really young guys, so I think that’s a really nice achievement for the team, and one that can inspire us all.”

And it’s that development of those young riders that has pleased Winston the most, with Onley turning pro with the Dutch squad in 2023 after two years racing for its Continental U23 team.

“Oscar’s level has shown he’s been able to be in the GC and hold those positions,” he says. “But we also know Oscar is a super-talented rider, and he’s worked really closely with our team since coming out of the junior ranks with our Expert group.

“He was based in Sittard in the Netherlands for a few years, working there with out development team. He’s one of six guys who came out of that team and we knew Oscar was a special guy.

“He’s shown glimpses of that in the past. In the Tour of Croatia a few years ago, he was sprinting against Jonas Vingegaard [in 2022, as a 19-year-old and before he turned professional with the team]. So, it’s not surprising that he’s made those steps now.

“He’s proud of his performances. I think he’s an incredible talent, he works hard. He’s a quiet guy, but he’s very thoughtful, very reflective. And he’s definitely doing a good job.”

Asked if Onley’s new status as a grand tour contender would change his squad’s approach to three-week races in the future, Winston insistent that “every race is different, every parcours is different, we’ll see each time how we’re going with that one”.

And looking ahead to the final week, the Picnic PostNL DS is adamant that – despite Onley’s lofty overall standing – the team’s mentality won’t change.

“We didn’t come here to do a GC, I keep saying it. I think people don’t believe that, but that is the truth, we came here for stage results,” he said.

“We’ll keep focusing on the day results with the other guys, there’s a few potential breakaway days, sprint days maybe. And when it comes to the GC days with Oscar we’ll race as hard as we can, and see where we end up in Paris.

“We’ve come to the point where we’ve already done a really good Tour de France, and Oscar is a young guy, it’s possible he can have a bad day. But whatever happens, we’ll be really proud of him in Paris.”