Brailsford has not turned his back on cycling, insists new Ineos CEO

John Allert, the new chief executive of the Ineos Grenadiers, has denied suggestions that Dave Brailsford has turned his back on cycling to devote himself to his new role at Manchester United.

Allert explained that Brailsford, who is immersed in an audit of Manchester United after the Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a minority stake at the club, has a job title that allows him to have oversight across a number of sports in the company’s stable.

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“Dave’s the founder of the team,” Allert said. “It’s a privilege that we still have him accessible to the team. His role is director of Ineos Sport, so he clearly has responsibility across a variety of different sports, not just cycling.

“Clearly Dave has a passion for and a proven track record in cycling, so don’t ever be surprised to see Dave come on a race. But he won’t be coming on races to mark our homework. He’ll be there to support the team, as he does all the teams.”

Allert acknowledged that the long wait for a further Tour de France victory, allied to the rise of rivals such as Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease A Bike team (formerly Jumbo-Visma) who won all three of Europe’s Grand Tours in 2023, had made Ineos Grenadiers “the hunter, not the hunted”.

“It’s put a different complexion on things,” Allert said of his team, who last won the Tour in 2019, through Egan Bernal. “We’ve clearly transitioned from one leadership to new leadership, and we’ve got an exciting rider group and we’ve made a good start to the season.”

Allert dismissed rumours that there had been a reduction to the team’s budget, despite Ratcliffe’s growing investments elsewhere in the Ineos sports portfolio. “We have a fixed budget. That has not gone down in any way,” he said.

Allert, whose reputation in cycling is founded on his time spent as managing director of Ratcliffe’s team, will be supported by the new performance director, Scott Drawer, formerly with Team GB.

“It’s no coincidence that the person responsible for our sporting performance is a scientist, an innovator, a proven disruptor. I don’t think that alone will provide us with the answer, but certainly we’re going to leave no stone unturned.”

Despite an exodus of top talent towards the end of last season, including the 2020 Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart, Allert maintained that the 2024 Ineos Grenadiers team contains “some pretty outstanding GC riders”.

“I believe that we have a number of GC riders, in terms of experienced ones with two Tour winners, but also phenomenal ‘next-gen’ riders. Our objectives are to get as close to the podium as possible in the Tour, and in any Grand Tour.

“Whether or not that’s this year, or next year, remains to be seen. The competition is stiff and tough, but we embrace that because it hopefully makes us better.”