“He’s still involved with the team" - INEOS Grenadiers deny Dave Brailsford's Manchester United role will effect them
Cycling
News broke on Saturday that due to Sir Dave Brailsford's growing role within English football giant, Manchester United, he would be stepping back from his role with the INEOS Grenadiers.
According to riders and staff of the INEOS Grenadiers who've been competing at the Tour Down Under this last week however, much of the discussion surrounding Brailsford has been hyperbole. “It’s been the same for the last couple of years. It’s just wording really,” Ben Swift told GCN. “He’s still involved with the team but he’s just got a more overall head role in the team, and that’s how it has been for the last couple of years.”
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INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently purchased a stake in Manchester United and has made Brailsford a key figure in his attempts to overturn the club's fortunes. “Dave is now the boss of all INEOS Sport,” the team's sports director Oli Cookson says. “He’s still in contact with us, he’s just working across all the sports, so nothing really changes. Like the [Telegraph] article said, he was there in December and he’s in contact with us and all the sports. It’s only a positive thing if we look at the situation that INEOS is doing with all the sports.”
During his time working more closely with Team Sky/INEOS Grenadiers, Brailsford was instrumental in the Grand Tour wins of the likes of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Egan Bernal and Tao Geoghegan Hart as British Cycling went through a real boom period.
Despite Brailsford's successes with Team Sky and the INEOS Grenadiers, there has also been controversy, most notably surrounding former team doctor, Richard Freeman who has since been found guilty of ordering testosterone for doping purposes. Brailsford and the team have always maintained their innocence and been adamant that they didn't know about the disgraced doctor's dodgy dealings.
“Everything about the team has been said. Of course, Dave’s heavily involved still, as he is with all the sports. Like I say we’re in a fortunate position with the situation, so there’s not really much else to say," Cookson concludes. “I think all teams are evolving. I don’t think there’s anything really to say on the Dave B matter, I think it’s quite clear that he’s got this position as the director of INEOS Sport, and he’s still in contact with us and involved in our successes and our structure.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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🚨🚨🎙️| INEOS Grenadiers' sports director Oli Cookson: “Dave [Brailsford] is now the boss of all INEOS Sport. He’s still in contact with us, he’s just working across all the sports, so nothing really changes.”
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