The domination of Dave Brailsford-led teams in the Tour de France is set to continue after the takeover of Team Sky by the petrochemicals giant Ineos, owned by Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
In the billionaire Brexiteer and cycling fan Ratcliffe Brailsford appears to have found a similarly ambitious and driven kindred spirit. Team Ineos will be unveiled on 2 May at the Tour of Yorkshire. Stage one passes through Beverley where Ratcliffe went to school.
The speed of the takeover has surprised many in the tradition-bound world of European cycling but neither Brailsford nor Ratcliffe is known for his patience and they will have been keen to end any speculation over the future of the team’s star riders, Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal.
“Today’s announcement ends the uncertainty around the team and the speed with which it has happened represents a huge vote of confidence in our future,” Brailsford said.
That haste may also have been fuelled by a desire to distance Ratcliffe’s multimillion pound investment in cycling from Jiffy bags, salbutamol scandals and the tainted talk of marginal gains and zero tolerance.
Team Sky said: “Sky and 21st Century Fox have agreed the sale of Team Sky to Ineos. Ineos will become the sole owners of Tour Racing Limited (the team’s holding company) from 1 May this year and will continue to fund the current team in full, honouring all existing commitments to riders, staff and partners.”
The news was greeted with some enthusiasm by the riders. Thomas tweeted: “Super happy that the team can continue and stay together! Thank you to Sky, hello to Ineos.” Froome was equally positive following the update. He wrote on Twitter: “So excited that we as riders and staff will be able to continue on together for 2020 and beyond. Looking forward to continued success as Team Ineos! Massive thanks to everyone involved in keeping this special group of people together.”
Brailsford was initially given little hope of maintaining his team at a similar level of funding but is now believed to have secured even greater funding.
“They’ll probably buy Aston Martins for team cars, they’ll have space shuttle buses, jetpacks,” the former Team GB rider, Max Sciandri, told Cycling Weekly. “They set a high standard, and that’s tough for a lot of teams to match, almost impossible for some of the teams.”
Matt White, sports director to the 2018 Vuelta a España winner, Simon Yates, said: “They’ve raised the bar. We’re just trying to keep up with it.”
As of 1 May Team Sky and their “pass-on-plastic” jerseys will be consigned to the past as Team Ineos targets first the Giro d’Italia, which begins on 11 May, with Bernal, and then July’s Tour de France, with the defending champion, Thomas, and four-times winner, Froome.
Ratcliffe described cycling as “a great endurance and tactical sport that is gaining ever more popularity around the world”.
Equally, the 66-year-old added: “Cycling continues to mushroom for the general public as it is seen to be good for fitness and health, together with easing congestion and pollution in city environments. Ineos is delighted to take on the responsibility of running such a professional team.”
But there was an immediate backlash to the news, both from those who have become weary of Brailsford’s hegemony over cycling’s limited sponsorship funds and others who have long criticised Ineos’s activities.
David Lappartient, president of cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, said that, if Team Ineos had an even bigger budget than Team Sky, “the fear will be that the race will be more controlled”.
“It’s important for the public that there’s big interest in the competition,” Lappartient said. “We don’t want to have just one team that dominates cycling for 10 years.”
Friends of the Earth issued a stinging statement, accusing Ineos of “greenwashing” and pointing out that only last summer as the 2018 Tour began, Brailsford and his team had launched the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign.
“Taking over Team Sky is the latest blatant attempt at greenwashing by Ineos,” a statement read. “It’s a harsh change of tone that may see Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign to clear plastic pollution from our oceans ditched from the team jersey in favour of Ineos – one of the biggest plastic producers in Europe.
“Cycling is one of the UK’s most successful and popular sports but do the likes of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome really want to be associated with a planet-wrecking company like Ineos?”
Team Sky declined to confirm the value or the length of the contract with Ineos.
Ratcliffe’s enthusiasm for Brailsford and his team is said to have been fuelled by a bike ride with Thomas through the climbs overlooking the Côte d’Azur, but his desire to work with Brailsford may extend beyond cycling. Brailsford, having survived a Ukad investigation and the fierce criticism of a DCMS select committee, is keen to extend himself with new challenges. Ratcliffe’s interest in the Americas Cup and in potentially buying Chelsea may also chime with Brailsford’s ambition to further his obsession with ruthless winning performances.
In that sense, much to the chagrin of their poorer relations in the professional peloton and perhaps even beyond, it may prove a perfect match.