Ineos Grenadiers begin a new chapter in their long history at this year's Tour de France: TotalEnergies comes on board as a major sponsor, Geraint Thomas will compete in his last Tour, and Dave Brailsford returns to cycling as head of Ineos Sport after his hiatus in football at Manchester United.
Brailsford is expected to attend much of the Tour de France as Thomas enjoys his 'last dance' at the Tour before taking up a management role. On the road, Ineos Grenadiers are chasing Tour success with GC leader Carlos Rodriguez, Filippo Ganna, new British champion Sam Watson and others.
"Dave's got stuck straight in. There's no doubt about that, and he loves it," team manager John Allert said in a video call with a select group of media, including Cyclingnews, after the team arrived in Lille for the Tour de France Grand Depart.
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"He's like a kid in a sweet shop talking about climbs, and getting back to the mountains. For him, that's the battlefield that he knows and knows and loves.
"We've welcomed him back into the team with open arms. He's a kind of not-so-secret weapon for us to use, and we plan on using him to the fullest extent we can. It's great to have him back."
Ineos Grenadiers denied that delays in naming their final eight riders for the Tour de France were due to hands-on involvement from Brailsford, blaming recent rider illness and injury as a key factor.
Alongside Rodríguez, Thomas, Watson, and Ganna, the Ineos roster includes Thymen Arensman, Tobias Foss, Axel Laurance and Connor Swift.
Rodríguez could repeat his fifth place overall of 2023 or do even better but Ineos lacks the type of big-name contender the team had during their heady days as Team Sky, when Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012 and then Chris Froome won four times between 2013 and 2017. Thomas finished third in the 2024 Giro d'Italia but was last on the Tour podium in 2022.
Brailsford's return to direct involvement in the team is part of their plan to return to Tour de France success.
"We want to win the Tour, but there's no point just saying you want to win the Tour, you've got to do something about it. That in part, is why it's great to welcome Dave back into the fold. Dave loves a performance challenge, and this is the biggest one there," Allert said.
"Dave and everyone at Ineos, everyone in the team, we all want to win the Tour. We've got to do more than we're doing, We've got to get better than the people that are dominating at the moment. That's what we're doing. We're getting stuck in and that's our mission. That's why it's great to have Dave as part of it."
Cyclingnews saw how the TotalEnergies logo fills a huge part of the Ineos Grenadiers team bus and other vehicles in Lille for the Tour Grand Depart. The giant French oil and energy company has officially come on board for a 'jersey partnership' but is likely to have invested close to the €20 million the team was said to be looking for. When TotalEnerges ends its title sponsorship of Jean-René Bernaudeau's French ProTeam after 2026, it may become a true title sponsor, alongside Ineos.
TotalEnergies' investment should help Ineos regain the status of 'super team' up there with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Visma-Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek.
"I'd like to think that from 2010 we earned the right to be called a super team. We're a super team that needs to win more," Allert said.
"It's not cheap to win and budgets keep going up. Once we were at the top of that heap and were not any more. It's not just about money, it's also about competence and strategy and resources, hard work and all those good things."
Ineos recently announced that Adidas will become a clothing sponsor, while a new bike sponsor might be coming on board in 2026.
"Total as a partner for Ineos is hugely helpful, industrially and in a sporting sense," Allert said.
"Bringing on other partners like Adidas is helpful too and we've got other discussions going on, we haven't finished yet.
"It's fantastic to realise that we've got something that is attracting investment and also interesting riders for next year and beyond. But the journey continues.
"Geraint's retirement doesn't mark the end of a chapter. We're a GC team that wants to win the Tour and that's never changed. We've become slightly more expressive and aggressive and flamboyant in the way we race. That's down to the amazing guys pulling on the jersey.
"It's a continuum and I'd like to think in ten years' time you can see this era as a pivot point to a new chapter of success."
