“New transfer wave at Ineos reminds me of Real and Barcelona” | cycling

Despite the departure of Chris Froome, Ineos is home to no less than 4 of the 13 still active Grand Tour winners: Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, Richard Carapaz and Tao Geoghegan Hart.

Add to that names such as Filippo Ganna (world time trial champion), Rohan Dennis, Michal Kwiatkowski and Pavel Sivakov and you already have a super-de-luxe star team.

Last winter Ineos brought in another 5 greats. “In one day they made the arrival of Richie Porte, Laurens More, Daniel Felipe Martinez in Tom Pidcock well known “, British journalist Rob Hatch recalls.

“It was as if the transfer market was open in football and Barcelona and Real Madrid made their mark. It was really amazing that all of this happened in one day.”

Are there any surprises for Hatch? “The big surprise for me was Martinez, I really don’t think anyone saw that coming. They managed to keep those negotiations quiet. From, for example, Adam Yates we had known for a long time that a transfer was in the pipeline. “

How can Ineos keep recruiting all those prize animals and super servants year by year?

“For a cycling team, Ineos has an extremely rich sponsor. The team’s budget would amount to about 40 to 50 million euros. That is 5 times larger than the budget of the smallest WorldTour teams,” says Hatch.

“As a rider you want to be financially sound and secure your future. Even if that means that you have to ignore yourself for a leader at Ineos.”

“Kwiatkowski, for example, has sacrificed many of his own chances of winning. He is doing very well financially and at the same time he is still considered one of the best riders in the world.”

An important question is how you are going to manage that star team. “That is mainly the job of foreman Dave Brailsford. You have to make tough decisions and keep everyone happy. Nobody can do that better than Brailsford.”

“We saw in last year’s Tour, for example, that they left former winners Froome and Thomas at home. Brailsford did not come up with that proposal themselves. The coaches and team leaders did that. But the final decision rests with Brailsford.”

“When the foreman decided not to include Thomas and Froome in the Tour selection, he was able to keep the calm by turning their sights on the Giro and the Vuelta. The returning Rod Ellingworth will also play an important role from now on. throughout the decision-making process. “

Let’s take a closer look at Ineos’ new acquisitions one by one. We start with our fellow countryman Laurens Plus (25).

Hatch: “At Jumbo-Visma, De Plus showed that he is one of the best working men in the world uphill. He is still young, who knows what he is capable of. Maybe he can achieve something very great in the future, but in his first year, he will mainly have to eliminate himself in the grand tours. “

“Daniel Felipe Martinez (24) I see walking the same path as De Plus. He is still very young and still has potential. But in the first instance he will mainly have to put himself in front of the leaders. “

Who is already a lot older is Richie Porte (35). “They signed him before he finished 3rd in the Tour. I don’t think he will be played as a leader, but as a servant and he will mainly have to work for Bernal, Thomas, Carapaz and Yates.”

“Met Tom Pidcock (21) they attract a very great talent, you Belgians already know that through cyclocross. They are going to let him finish the cross season and in March he will become prof. Pidcock is someone like Wout van Aert, we don’t know what kind of rider he will be. I hope he will play in the classics this year. They don’t really have a classic core and have never won a cobbled classic. ”

The arrival of Adam Yates (28) had been known for some time. “He still wants to win a big round and really needed that change of scenery. This is a good move, but it is going to be a lot of pressure. I would be very surprised if they attract him and not play him out as the leader in one of the grand tours, but of course we don’t know which one. “

So a whole lot of new riders at Ineos, but the man with the greatest palmares has gone to other places: Chris Froome now wears the Israel Start-Up Nation shirt.

“He hasn’t ridden the Tour for 2 years in a row and was out for a long time due to his fall, so they are used to driving without him. But it is Froome, he has won 7 Grand Tours with Sky / Ineos.”

“Of course his departure will remain a big story and a big change. Perhaps this will mark the end of the first era Ineos. With all those new names you can say that this will be Team Ineos 2.0.”

A new era also means a new way of racing? “In recent years, the team has often been labeled boring. In 2021 Ineos will certainly race more aggressively.”

“Dave Brailsford has talked about riding in a different way a few times in the Giro. Rest assured that we will regularly see the Ineos riders competing for stage victories in escape groups.”