'Gutted' Oscar Onley to miss Tour de France with 'significant' shoulder injury suffered in crash in Stage 6 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
Updated 25/06/2026 at 16:16 GMT+1
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Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos) will miss this year's Tour de France after suffering a "significant" shoulder injury in a crash during Stage 6 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, his team confirmed in a statement on Thursday.
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Ineos said that the Scottish rider has already started work on his rehabilitation and is "making encouraging progress." The statement added: "We wish Oscar a full and speedy recovery."
Onley finished fourth in last year's Tour de France and was seen as one of Tadej Pogacar's main rivals for the general classification title this time around.
The 23-year-old was set to be part of Ineos' two-headed attack to tackle the French course, alongside Kevin Vauquelin.
However, his crash on June 12 threw his participation in the 2026 Tour de France into question.
During Stage 6 of Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Onley crashed by "flying over a rail" on the final descent.
He was able to get back on his bike and finished 29 minutes behind stage winner Maxim Van Gils following the incident.
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Ineos confirmed afterwards that Onley had suffered a "dislocated shoulder and leg wounds" and that he was withdrawing from the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.
According to Cyclingnews, Onley had posted a 43km ride on his Strava account titled: 'Road to the Tour… of Guangxi' which led to suggestions he could miss the Tour de France.
And although he has been part of the Ineos preparations for the second Grand Tour of the season, medical "investigations" have deemed his shoulder injury too severe to allow him to compete.
In a statement, Onley expressed his disappointment at having to miss out after his breakthrough performance last year.
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"I’m gutted not to be able to line up for the Tour de France this year," Onley said.
"My focus is now on recovering and getting my shoulder in a good place, but I’m really motivated to try and make something out of this season.
"I am looking forward to watching the boys racing in France in the coming weeks, especially knowing how hard everyone has worked."
Last year's display at the Tour de France - where he finished 12 minutes and 12 seconds behind Pogacar - was a big part in earning Onley his move to Ineos.
Since then, he has been part of the Ineos squad which won the team time trial in Stage 3 of the 2026 Paris-Nice race, as well as finishing fourth in the Volta ao Algarve.
Onley has dealt with illness struggles during his debut season with Ineos, having to abandon both Paris-Nice and Tour de Romandie with ailments.
After withdrawing from the Tour de Romandie with a "stomach bug," Onley admitted his frustration with how his 2026 campaign had begun.
"Been a tough start to the season to be honest and hard not to feel like I’ve let a lot of people down after all the time and investment from everyone at [Ineos]" he wrote on Instagram.
"Looking ahead to the next goals and get back amongst it soon."
The loss of Onley further dents Ineos' plans for the Tour de France, with time-triallist Josh Tarling already ruled out after he suffered a fractured collarbone in a crash on the same stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes as Onley.
Elsewhere for Ineos, Vauquelin faces a race to be fit and ready for the Tour de France, having withdrawn from this weekend's French national championships with a virus.
Vauquelin, who finished seventh in last year’s Tour de France, said on Instagram it was a "tough decision" to pull out of the race, but that "health comes first".
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