One of Britain's richest men, Sir Jim Ratcliffe owns a number of sporting icons including Manchester United, OGC Nice and the
INEOS Grenadiers and as a guest on the latest episode of the
Geraint Thomas Cycling Club Podcast, the 71-year-old opened up on various topics.
One such story was a humorous tale that could've been so much worse from when Ratcliffe joined his then-superstar team leader,
Chris Froome on a casual ride in Corsica. "I was cycling along with Chris and I was on the inside and he was on the outside," recalled Ratcliffe to Thomas. "But you guys cycle really close together don't you? We don't do that because we're not as skilful on a bike. His handlebars were only 6" from mine whereas normally it'd be a metre."
"He still had his broken leg, he was still only half recovered so his leg was a mess. He was cycling one-legged really, so I winced as I went past some shrubbery and then before I knew it, I was sailing over the handlebars," continues the INEOS owner with a hearty laugh. "I just missed Chris' front wheel! It was entirely his fault! But I was so close to re-breaking his leg."
At both Manchester United and the INEOS Grenadiers, Ratcliffe is in need of a rebuild as the team's search to reclaim past glories. When Thomas asks his boss if he'd rather sign Kylian Mbappe for United or Tadej Pogacar for INEOS, Ratcliffe is diplomatic in his response.
"What I would rather do is find the next Mbappe, rather than spend a fortune just trying to buy success," he says, perhaps eluding to INEOS Grenadiers' future transfer plans. "It's not that clever is it, buying Mbappe? Anyone could figure that one out, but what is more challenging is to find the next Mbappe or the next Jude Bellingham or the next Roy Keane."
