Ineos Grenadiers: Team denies departure and searches for sponsorship
British Ineos Grenadier Cycling Team insist they will continue to play the sport but are looking for new partners to keep up with their rivals.
Ineos won seven Tour de France titles between 2012 and 2019, most of them as Team Sky, but suffered its worst season in 2024.
They started the year without top talent Tom Pidcock, People traveling to Q36.5 in December.
“The team will move into the next cycle (starting in 2026),” said CEO John Allert. “We are fortunate to have owners who are very passionate about the sport; they are very committed to it. In motion.”
Ineos Grenadiers are owned by Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe and former Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford, who now leads the wider Ineos Sports team This includes nearly 30% of Manchester United’s shares.
“They get on the bike and if they don’t want to be in the sport, they have a lot of opportunities to make that clear. But they do want to be in the sport,” Allert added.
Ineos won just 14 races last year, with 23-year-old Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez finishing seventh in the sport’s biggest race, the Tour de France.
Typically, the team wins around 35-40 races in the Road Cycling World Tour calendar, which includes one-day races, stages and overall rankings.
Ineos, with an estimated budget of €36m (£30.3m), has long been regarded as one of the largest in the professional peloton, but other teams have also committed more resources to the sport in recent years. These include the Emirates Team led by Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, a so-called super team that has multiple top sponsors and pays their best riders record-breaking sums. salary.
Allert admits Ineos now needs to close the gap.
“I won’t reveal the exact number, but it’s more than what we’re currently spending,” the Australian said.
“We certainly have a commercial strategy and this is an evolution of our strategy – we have appointed an agency to look at partnership opportunities like most other teams.
“I’ve heard some crazy rumors over the last few weeks about people buying us or investing in us or whatever – the agency is in talks with as many of the world’s leading brands as possible.”
Meanwhile, Allert added that Pidcock and the team were “no longer compatible” when asked about the 25-year-old’s departure.
The Briton won one of the most iconic stages of the 2022 Tour de France – Stage 12 to the Alpe d’Huez – and also won the Strade Bianche, Amstel Gold in an Ineos jersey One day classic match with Brabantse Pijl.
But he was unexpectedly left out of the last major game of last season and left the team shortly after.
“I think Tom’s whole theme might become a book in 10 years,” Allert added.
“But we’re definitely moving on; we parted amicably. I have a lot of respect for Tom – he’s very talented.
“I personally leave on very good terms from the last time we spoke and we wish him the best.”
The 2025 road cycling season kicked off in Australia on Thursday with Daniek Hengeveld winning the first stage of the Tour Down Under for the Ceratizit-WNT women’s team. The men’s tournament begins on Tuesday.
