Ineos Grenadiers has kept several key veteran riders for 2022, but has signed talented young Gen Z riders as it works to develop the next generation of classics and Grand Tour contenders.

The average age of the British superteams is around 27, but it is clear that young riders are on the rise. Geraint Thomas, Richie Porte, Luke Rowe, and Ben Swift are now veterans of the British team, while Egan Bernal, Filippo Ganna, Richard Kalapas, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Michaud Kwiatkowski are the current major race leaders.

Right behind them is the next generation, led by 22-year-old Tom Pidcock, who joined Ineos for the 2021 season, and Ethan Hayter, another Englishman.

Ineos Grenadiers released Rohan Dennis and Gianni Moscon and signed Elia Vivani and Omar Freire, but most of their investment went to their five most talented riders. They signed Ben Tourette, a 20-year-old from England with Alpecin Phoenix; Kim Haiduk, a 21-year-old from Germany; Luke Plapp, a 21-year-old from Australia; Ben Turner, a 22-year-old from England; and Magnus Sheffield, a 19-year-old from the United States.

Carlos Rodriguez of Spain, who turns 21 on February 2, has been with the Ineos Grenadiers since 2020 and is equally talented. He is expected to duel with Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and emerge as a Grand Tour talent.

While Thomas is a veteran at 35, Porte at 36, and Kwiatkowski at 31, Ineos Grenadiers has seven riders under 23. Bernal and Ganna are also only 25, and Pavel Sivakov is 24. If the trend is to sign new players in search of the next star, Lemko Evenpeor (Quick Step Alfavinil) or Tadei Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), Ineos Grenadiers appears to be in the perfect position after a major roster revamp.

"We followed a future-focused strategy to constantly improve and look ahead," coach Matteo Tosat Sportif recently told Tuttobici about the arrival of the next generation.

"We knew we needed to refresh our roster and this acquisition follows that idea. We have riders like Bernal, Pidcock, Geoghegan Hart, and Hayter. They are still young and getting better every year."

The Ineos Grenadiers began a roster transformation with the addition of Bernal in 2018, and the process accelerated for 2021 when Chris Froome was let go and joined the Israeli Startup Nation. Dave Brailsford initially found himself without a development plan after Froome's success in Grand Tours. He replaced Sky with Ineos as team owner and sponsor and became more international, but after some language and cultural differences, their next generation has a more English-speaking culture and delves deeper into the second generation of British talent inspired by Bradley Wiggins, Froome, and Thomas

Rod Ellingworth returns to a senior management position at Ineos Grenadiers in 2021 after a year and a half in Bahrain. The next generation of riders looks very similar to the group he managed and developed at the Under 23 Great Britain Academy in Italy, including Thomas, Ben Swift, Peter Kennaugh, Lowe, and Alex Dowsett. The new young players are all talented and will be carefully coached, competing with each other and working together for the good of the team.

Brailsford will also assume the role of sports director, and the team owners will also make changes to the Ineos coaching and performance staff. Ellingworth has been named deputy team principal, and Roger Hammond has joined as principal sportif.

Long-time head coach Tim Kerrison moved on and Paul Barrett was brought in from British Cycling as Head of Performance Support & Innovation. Former British rider Steve Cummings is the new director sportif, along with Tosat, Servais Naveen, Dario Cioni, Brett Lancaster, and Christian Nees. Dan Bingham has also joined the team as performance engineer, and the Ineos Grenadier website lists 21 Directional Sportifs and Performance Staff. Ben Swift will mentor the players from the saddle in 2022 and may then move to Team Car.

Pidcock leads the Ineos Grenadiers Generation Z group and is more mature than his age; he just turned 23 in July, but his career has always been fast-paced, and that continues in his first full season at the World Tour level in 2021.

He quickly took third place in the sprint that decided the Coure Brussel-Coone, was fifth in Strade Bianche, and impressed in Milan-San Remo, beating Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in a two-man sprint to win the De Brabante Paille. The Belgian got his revenge a few days later in the Amstel Gold Race, while Pidcock won gold in the Tokyo Olympic mountain bike race after suffering a broken collarbone.

Pidcock was a talented junior rider under 23. He won the junior cyclocross world title in 2017 and the under-23 title in 2019 and is a strong contender for the elite title later this month in the U.S. In 2017 he won the junior edition of Paris-Roubaix and the junior time trial world title. Since that time, as well as being a cyclo-cross and classics rider, Pidcock has dominated the 2020 Giro Baby in Italy, winning three mountain stages and the overall.

Pidcock, a Yorkshireman, will play a key role on the Ineos Grenadiers Classic team this year, taking on Van Aert and Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix), but he has the potential that they do not. Pidcock has developed into the next British Grand Tour contender after Ineos Grenadiers and may eventually replace Carapas and Bernal.

Hayter, despite just turning 23, is entering his third season in Ineos colors; from 2019 to mid-2021 he concentrated on the circuit, but still won nearly a quarter of Ineos Grenadiers' victories, with fast finishes, and nine He won nine victories with fast finishes.

None of his victories were at the World Tour level, but he did score impressive wins at the Tour of Norway and Tour of Britain. He also won the British national time trial in September, proving the breadth of his talent. He will undoubtedly become Britain's next great sprinter and, like Mark Cavendish, could win Milan-San Remo at a young age.

The 21-year-old Plapp showed his ability and the Ineos effect last week when he won the Australian elite title with a daring solo chase and attack. It was not only a demonstration of his strength, but also of his progress, as he patiently waited in the pack until the final lap after learning not to attack too early in the 2021 event. He won the time trial title last year and anchors the Australian Team Pursuit team on the track.

Sheffield broke his contract with Rally Cycling and joined Ineos Grenadiers. He could develop into the next great American rider, as he is the junior Pursuit record holder and won a bronze medal at the 2019 Junior World Championships road race in Yorkshire.

Tulett is equally talented and prodigious, showing more potential in cyclocross than on the board. He is a two-time junior world champion in mud cyclocross and turned pro in Alpecin-Phoenix in 2020, when he was still a teenager. He was the youngest rider to complete Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and in 2021 he finished an impressive 12th in the Flèche Wallonne. He also finished 9th overall in the Tour de Pollogne, all before his 20th birthday. He terminated his contract with Alpecin Phoenix and joined the Ineos boy band "Gen Z."

Turner and Haiduk also show great potential. The German is the national road race champion under 23 and knows how to win. He had three top-10 finishes and a one-day maglia rosa in the Baby Giro. He had a big crash at the Tour de l'Avenir, but finished second in the under-23 British time trial championships.