'It’s been the team I’ve always looked up to': Britain's Ben Tulett joins Ineos Grenadiers for 2022 season
The 20-year-old has wanted to ride for the team since reading about the launch in Cycling Weekly back in 2010
Ineos Grenadiers have announced young British rider Ben Tulett as their latest signing for the 2022 season.
Tulett is signing for the team he says he has wanted to be a part of since seeing the then Sky Pro Cycling team unveiled in 2010.
Recently turning 20-years-old, Tulett has had an impressive two season stint at Alpecin-Fenix after jumping straight up to pro level from juniors. While he has not yet pulled off a win, Tulett has had some world class results.
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Starting with a top five at the Tour of Antalya in Turkey in 2020, Tulett then put in consistent performances in races like Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race where he finished 12th and 17th respectively. He also took his first WorldTour top 10 in a stage race with ninth place at the Tour of Poland.
Speaking in a team press release, Tulett said: "It’s been the team I’ve always looked up to, I still remember reading Cycling Weekly when I was younger, looking at the photos of the team being launched.
"It was the first time there was this big British team going into the WorldTour and I remember being so excited about it. Then Brad [Wiggins] won the Tour [de France] in 2012 and that was just incredible. I remember thinking, ‘I’d love to be on that team one day’. Fast forward nine years and I’ve just signed my first contract here. I couldn’t be happier."
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Tulett is also a two-time junior cyclocross world champion and will be joining fellow cyclocrosser, Tom Pidcock in races like the Ardennes Classics as Ineos continue to build on their pool of young talent, which includes fellow new signing Lucas Plapp.
"I remember visiting the Vuelta in 2017 as a fan and seeing Chris Froome (now Israel Start-Up Nation) and the whole team, thinking, one day… I want my seat on that bus," Tulett continued.
"It’s honestly been in my head during some training efforts - I want to earn my seat on that bus."
Tulett's father raced cyclocross, which saw Ben naturally fall into the sport and his talent has flourished from there.
The team's director of racing, Rod Ellingworth said: "Ben is a young British rider who we’ve been watching for a while.
"He has made impressive progress over the last year and his approach and attitude is exactly what we look for in an Ineos Grenadier. We think his passion for racing combined with our team environment will help push him on to the next stage of his career."
Tulett ended by saying it is his dream to become Great Britain's next general classification rider: "Ineos can give me the tools to do that, in the very best environment."
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.