Oscar Onley has been released by Picnic PostNL after a very late and very appealing offer from Ineos Grenadiers and after the team declined other requests to break his contract.
Picnic PostNL has confirmed it agreed to the transfer of Onley, saying following his Tour de France 4th place overall "the team received multiple offers for Oscar’s release, all of which were initially declined" as he had two more years to run on his contract.
"However, a very late but appealing offer was made in recent days," it added. "While the team would have loved to keep Oscar for the remainder of his contract and beyond, the proposal was not one Oscar or the team could refuse and an agreement has now been reached."
British rider Onley (23) has been with the Picnic PostNL team since 2021, when it was Team DSM. He rode for its UCI Continental development team for two seasons before moving up to the World Tour team for the start of the 2023 season.
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He now goes to Ineos Grenadiers which will hope he can at least repeat, and hopefully improve, his Tour de France finish this year in any of the three Grand Tours. The team had previously been in the hunt to sign Remco Evenepoel.
The Olympic and world champion has recently explained just how close that move came to being done, only for internal changes at Ineos Grenadiers leading to delays. He ultimately left Soudal-QuickStep for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.
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However, Onley will now be hopeful that a move to Ineos Grenadiers will deliver continued improvements in his performance, and stronger support on the road, so that he can kick on from his outstanding Tour de France ride this year.
“I’m extremely proud of what I’ve achieved with this team," Onley said of his five years with the Dutch team. "Progressing through from the development program to finishing 4th at the Tour de France has been incredible, and a real testament to what this team is able to do with riders.
"Both Team Picnic PostNL and INEOS Grenadiers have a great history of racing for victories in Grand Tours, and I know for a fact that both my current and new team will continue to do so in the coming years.
"The opportunity to represent the team of my home country was one I could not refuse and I’m happy that a solution was found. I’ll hold the memories made with this team close, and I know I’ll face tough competition from the next generation of talents they develop in the years to come.”
Team Picnic PostNL head coach Rudi Kemna said the team's key focus was to get the most out of its riders and he believed it had a great record in that regard, pointing to Onley as a key example.
We, of course, would have loved to have kept Oscar but knowing the young riders in our team and those coming through our development program, we’re confident that the next generation is on the brink of becoming world class riders.”
