Ineos Grenadiers attempts to draw a line in the sand at the mysterious absence of Steve Cummings, the senior director sportif at the Tour de France, while refusing to explain why he is not in the team car managing race strategy He is trying to.

Cummings was promoted to "racing director" when Rod Ellingworth left the team over the winter and has served as director sportif for many races this season, including the Criterium du Dauphiné.

He undoubtedly played a key role in determining Ineos' lineup and race strategy for the Tour de France, but just two weeks ago Zach Dempster was named "lead DS" of the Tour de France, and for some reason, without a clear role to work remotely doing.

According to the recently released Netflix series "Tour de France Unchained," Cummings apparently endured a difficult relationship with Tom Pidcock during the 2023 Tour de France. However, after arriving in Italy for the Tour Grande Parle, Pidcock dismissed the series as "drama" and said he was "portrayed as a bad guy."

Pidock told Cycling Weekly that the team would be "better" without Cummings at this year's Tour.

"I don't think it will have any impact," he said. Things change, it's not for me to comment."

Pidcock is under contract with the Ineos Grenadiers through 2027 and has a leadership role; Cycling Weekly suggested that Pidcock has a say in important team decisions. However, another source told Cycling News that Pidcock was not involved in the decision to leave Cummings at home, and that Pidcock could not even convince Ineos Grenadiers to bring his preferred soigneur to the Tour de France

The team told Cyclingnews that "Steve is not racing, but he is supporting us remotely."

Team CEO John Alert spoke to Cyclingnews and the Cycling Podcast before the start of the first stage, but did not provide details about why Cummings was left at home or his undefined "remote" role.

"Honestly, I'm completely out of line. [It's] probably the most exciting Tour lineup in years, and it's the start of three magical weeks of racing. It's a great team. There's a great unity in the team. So I don't really have anything to add."

Allert stuck to his line, even as cycling news suggested that Cummings' absence could look strange from outside the team.

"My focus is not how it looks from the outside, but how it looks from the inside. And I'm very happy with this team, the way we're set up, the way we approach the tools," said Arrato.

He reiterated that he wanted to draw the line at this conversation.

"Like I said, I draw the line. I have nothing to add to what has already been said, what has already been written."

"What we're focused on as a team is what's happening with the tools, we're a happy team, we're a harmonious team, we're a talented team. I'm just looking forward to the next three weeks.

"I won't go into detail about my specific role in the race. As I said before, Steve is taking part in the Tour.

"Zach's role is head DS, so his role is self-explanatory. Zach and Steve work really closely together and are very philosophically aligned. Their styles during the race are quite different, but both are very effective; I think they are both at the top of their game. We have full confidence in what Zach will do here, along with the other excellent coaches and Director Sportif."

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