"He wasn’t good at developing talent" - Brian Smith on Sir Dave Brailsford's impact at the INEOS Grenadiers

With INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe having purchased English football club, Manchester United, Sir Dave Brailsford's time at the INEOS Grenadiers is all but over.

Reflecting on the impact of Brailsford within Team Sky/INEOS Grenadiers and wider cycling as a whole, the vastly experienced Eurosport commentator Brian Smith believes the weaknesses of Brailsford's methods may have caught up to him in recent years. “The thing about Dave was that he could see the leaks and then plug them. He was very good at looking at all the small details and he came up with the marginal gains, and that’s all it was. Looking at all the small details where they could improve but now everyone is doing it," begins Smith in conversation with GCN.

"What Dave wasn’t the best at, and he’d probably admit it, he wasn’t good at developing talent. When you’ve got the money that they have, then you just buy the talent. Now you’ve got, over the last few years, a sway of Brits not wanting to ride for Team Sky or INEOS. They want to go elsewhere,” Smith continues. “Dave wasn’t a guru or anything like that. What he was good at was surrounding himself with the best people who could plug those holes. He brought in people who were at the top of their game and that was a golden period for them. But they all come to an end, you just have to look at Manchester United to see that."

The difference in the attitude of British youngsters now compared to the early days of the team is vast believes Smith. “I’m not sure what other holes he could plug in the team. It’s quite sad, I can remember kids like Luke Rowe and all they wanted to do was ride for Team Sky and now you’ve got Ben Tulett and other British riders wanting to go to other teams like Team Visma | Lease a Bike," he notes. "That’s my take and I have a lot of respect for Dave, and I hope he does well but let's see what he can do.”