Oscar Onley

Oscar Edgar Onley (born 13 October 2002) is a Scottish cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Picnic PostNL.

Early life

Onley grew up in Kelso in the Scottish Borders. He attended Longridge Towers School and Kelso High School.

He started cycling at the age of ten and joined his local club, the Kelso Wheelers. However, his preferred sport as a child was cross-country running. He began to take cycling more seriously after turning 18 and joining the junior ranks; Onley has stated that he simply preferred the training for cycling compared to running.

Career

In 2019, Onley started a two-year stint with the Van Rysel-AG2R La Mondiale development team, though his 2020 season was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. He then signed with Development Team DSM for the start of 2021. Though he did not achieve any significant results in his initial season with the squad, his 2022 season was very strong. This included a stand-out performance at the CRO Race, where he closely competed with that year's Tour de France winner, Jonas Vingegaard, on a number of stages. He ultimately finished third overall in the General Classification and won the Young Rider Classification. Onley was supported by the Rayner Foundation in 2021 and 2022, during his time with Development Team DSM.

After spending two seasons with the development squad, he joined UCI WorldTeam Team Picnic PostNL in 2023, having signed a five-year contract with the team in late 2022. In 2023, he competed in his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, where he was part of the winning team on the Stage One team time trial. Onley abandoned the race during the following stage after sustaining a broken collarbone in a crash in wet conditions.

The following January, Onley took his first individual professional win in an uphill finish on Stage Five of the 2024 Tour Down Under, ultimately finishing fourth overall.

Onley competed in the 2024 Tour de France, his second Grand Tour. On Stage 17, he was involved in the day's breakaway and finished fifth on the stage. He also managed to be in the breakaway on the following stage, and was part of the nine-man group that first reached the foot of the Col de la Bonette, but was unable to stay with the leading riders during the ascent. Onley finished 39th overall in the General Classification and 10th in the Young Rider Classification.

In September he raced in the Tour of Britain, the first stage of which started and finished in his hometown, Kelso. He finished the Tour second overall and won the Youth Classification, which he had been leading since Stage Two.

On 17 September 2024 it was announced that Onley would represent Great Britain in the elite men's road race at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships in Zurich. He finished in 16th place with a time of 6:31:22, 3 minutes and 52 seconds behind winner Tadej Pogačar, making him the highest-placed British rider.