Ineos Grenadiers will stick to its two-man overall leader strategy in the 2024 Tour de France after arriving in Florence for the Grande Pearl on Wednesday, with Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas targeting stage wins and protected riders Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal, who will support them.

Thomas is an experienced veteran and former Tour winner of the Ineos Grenadiers quartet. He finished third in the Giro d'Italia and appears ready to play a different role in the Tour.

Bernal won the 2019 Tour de France, but then had his career interrupted by a terrible training accident; he struggled to be competitive in the 2203 Tour, but reached a much higher and more consistent level in 2024, and alongside Rodriguez, he was awarded the GC role was won.

Rodriguez is protected as team leader based on his fifth place finish in 2023 and his consistency in 2024. Pidcock finished sixth in the recent Tour de Suisse and had initially said he would aim for the Tour GC, but the team changed his role.

According to the recently released Netflix series "Tour de France Unchained," Pidcock apparently ran his own race in the 2023 Tour de France against team orders, but struggled in the third week. This led to rumors of a rivalry between Pidcock and Rodriguez.

However, they questioned the Netflix story, sat next to each other at the Ineos Grenadier press conference, and did not appear to be feuding. The Brits were also thinking about the mountain bike race at the Paris Olympics, confirming their role as stage hunters.

"I was portrayed as a bad guy ...... Pidcock suggested, and claimed that he had not seen the Netflix episodes. 'It's not even in chronological order. But at the end of the day, we're racing."

"At the start of the (2023) Tour, me and Carlos were both going for GC. And at a certain point, someone comes out on top, and at that point, that person is the leader. That was Carlos. So it's just drama. It probably would have been a good episode, but I was the bad guy. Whatever. ......."

Rodriguez also denied any tension with Pidcock.

"Unfortunately, they wanted to be entertaining. But Tom and I have a good relationship," Rodriguez said, emphasizing that Pidcock's help in the second half of the Tour was far more important, although Pidcock's run to the finish on stage 13 made no difference.

"I hope this year Netflix is not about us anymore. It's not about us fighting or anything like that."

Pidcock is a natural underdog and will be looking to use his talent to win a stage in the next three weeks.

"I want to race aggressively. At first. I don't want to lose time on GC to do that, but I will do so later in the race if necessary to achieve my goal of a stage win," he explained, suggesting that his GC hopes have been pushed back to 2025.

"You could say that. Given the Olympics, that's a tall order. Obviously, I'm saying I don't know where Egan, Carlos, and Gelant are, but all three of them are much more GC-experienced than I. You can't go with four guys."

"There are many ways to support each other. We want to be successful in this race and it will benefit all of us in any way we can. But if we have to fight with one of these guys for the podium in the final week, we'll do everything we can to make that happen."

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Rodriguez spoke quietly, but seemed confident in his Tour de France form and ability.

"We'll see during the race. ...... He joked, and was asked about his goals for the year.

"But my feeling in the training races is better than last year or the year before. So I think I've made a step forward. But that will be known during the race. I will do my best and give it my all so that I can beat them." "

Ineos Grenadiers' rivals include, of course, Tadei Pogachar of the powerful UAE Team Emirates and Jonas Vingegaard of Vismaris a Bike. Thomas hopes to compare Ineos' success at the 2024 Tour with the recent winners.

"I am very excited about the Tour. I have a strong team," he said, trying not to think about whether this will be the last Tour of his long career.

"We sat down for a bit on the bus to ask each other what we wanted to get out of the race. Of course, it's still a challenge: four good riders, plus others like Kwiat and De Plus. I think a lot of the riders have a shot at a stage win.

"As long as everyone is looking in the same direction, I am confident we will succeed. Of course there will be bumps, but I think we just have to deal with them the best we can. We all have a clear idea of what we are trying to accomplish."

Thomas made it clear that Ineos will not be riding like the Team Sky of old, lining up the peloton in the mountains. They are now the underdog against Pogachar, Vingegaard, and others. [Let's be honest. There are other teams that have more weight in the race than we do and are better candidates to win," Thomas said. 'I think we can race differently, too, because it's not like we're going to go out one at a time, one up front and one down the road.'

"Along with Vizma, I think Pogue is clearly more popular than us. I don't think the pressure is on us."

"It could be my last Tour. But I just want to focus on the race. I'm just really excited to be here. [Last year I couldn't make it because of another program. It's exciting to be here. It's something I dreamed about as a kid. I'm looking forward to it somewhere in my heart. This could be the last time. But like I said, I'm not thinking about that."

On the crucial mountain stages, Thomas will go into the break looking for a stage win, but he will also play a team role.

"We may not necessarily have the legs for the stage, but we do have the avenues to help in other ways. I think the two work well together."

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