The 2026 men’s cycling season has already served up a whole host of epic races and victories, and with the first grand tour of the year set to roll out next month as the Giro d’Italia starts in Bulgaria, teams are well underway with their preparations.
INEOS Cycling has recently announced a new five-year partnership with Netcompany, with the Danish tech giant taking on a role not only as title sponsor of the team, but providing its PULSE AI platform in a bid to push it to the next level.
I spoke to André Rogaczewski, CEO of Netcompany, and Geraint Thomas, Netcompany INEOS Director of Racing, to find out more.
Data blizzard
As the world of sport becomes ever more dominated by technology and data, the need for athletes and teams alike to get a handle on this information is greater than ever.
“In cycling, you have so much data,” Rogaczewski tells me at the official launch of the Netcompany INEOS team in London, “it's like a blizzard of data on the individual riders, the team, all the equipment - about the race itself, so the ability to integrate all that data and capture it is going to be very important.”
Already used in corporate and business environments including HMRC, Heathrow and Munich airports and TSS, the launch is the first in sport for PULSE - so with sports such as Formula 1 leading the way in harnessing the power of data, why has cycling, where considerations around power, effort and nutrition are so vital, been so slow to adapt?
“The answer is pretty simple - the technology is pretty new,” Rogaczewski laughs, “and when it comes to, for instance, airports, it's AI prediction, the whole data capability performing with all the data in there, it's technically not been possible until just three or four years ago.”
“When we made the first version of this we spent a lot of time with Copenhagen Airport just building up the basic modelling, so it's just something that hasn't been there before.”
Thomas, who started his role earlier this year after retiring from a glittering career that saw him win two Olympic gold medals and the 2018 Tour de France, agrees.
“That's the exciting thing, the potential of being ahead of the curve really, on the front line moving forward,” he notes, “the possibilities are endless, it's like a discovery phase now, from our side, understanding what ultimately can it do - as you don't know what you don't know."
Both Rogaczewski and Thomas are keen to state that the use of PULSE is very much still a work in progress, with the team learning more from each race they complete. They are also keen not to overload their riders and staff with unnecessary data, with Thomas in particular saying he doesn’t want his team to get too much in their heads about data.
“You can't get all the data you want always - but that shouldn't hinder you from using the 80 percent that you have,” Rogaczewski notes, “if we can take all the trouble away, all the things that aren't related to doing your best on a bike, so they can concentrate on what is most important.”
“There's also good data and bad data,” Thomas adds, “so much stuff you don't really need that you can waste time looking at.”
“There's still that art and science - it's informative and it's concise, and use it in the right way - the young guys can get hung up on data...you don't want to overload them, you want them to realise this is information which can help in the big picture, but it's still down to the human and your mentality - it's a fine balance...this is a tool to use, and very, very useful.”
So will we see this AI-driven technology soon trickling down to everyday cyclists, much like Formula 1 has been a breeding ground for tools such as energy saving and power steering?
Much has been made of how technology creep into sport has taken away some of the “fun” of traditional competition - with athletes now combing over data, or using tech-assisted tools to get an extra advantage - so could this happen in cycling with the “blizzard of data” Rogaczewski describes?
“If that information is just aligned and clear, then you can use the best opportunity to make the right calls,” Thomas says, “and if you're making more and more correct decisions, that gives you the best chance to perform.
“At the end of the day, it's still about a guy on his bike, riding to the top of a mountain as quick as he can!”
“It's all new to me,” Thomas says, “but the potential is definitely there, and the more input we can get from it, the more exciting it is - it feels like a new evolution of the team, a new partnership, we've got some great momentum so far, and it's just like - that's where we're going now, so get on board and enjoy the ride!”
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