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Team Sky to become Team Ineos from 1 MayINEOSlogo

Team Sky to become Team Ineos from 1 May

Sky and 21st Century Fox confirm sale agreed to petrochemicals giant; first race will be Tour de Yorkshire
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, Mar 19, 2019 15:20
42

Team Sky will become Team Ineos from 1 May this year after broadcaster Sky and sister company 21st Century Fox confirmed that they had agreed the sale of management company Tour Racing Limited to the petrochemical group, which is the UK’s largest private company.

Sky announced in December that it was withdrawing its sponsorship of the team from the end of this season, and today’s news, which had been widely anticipated in recent days, ensures the future of the UCI WorldTour outfit which has won six of the past seven editions of the Tour de France.

In a press release this afternoon, Sky said that Team Ineos will be formally launched at the Tour de Yorkshire, which starts on 2 May. The team’s first Grand Tour will be the Giro d’Italia – won last year by Chris Froome – which begins on 11 May.

Ineos was founded by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the UK’s richest man, who is a billionaire Brexit backer and was recently reported to be moving for tax reasons to Monaco, where Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome are based.

He remains chairman and chief executive of Ineos, and is also the group’s controlling shareholder.

Today he said: “Cycling is a great endurance and tactical sport that is gaining ever more popularity around the world. Equally, cycling continues to mushroom for the general public as it is seen to be good for fitness and health, together with easing congestion and pollution in city environments.”

Earlier today, however, Friends of the Earth accused Ineos, a major producer of plastics, of “greenwashing” by backing the team, whose jerseys at last year’s Tour de France highlighted the Sky Ocen Rescue campaign to free the seas of plastic pollutants.

Tony Bosworth, fossil free campaigner at the environmental campaign group, said: “Taking over Team Sky is the latest blatant attempt at greenwashing by Ineos.

“It’s a harsh change of tone that may see Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign to clear plastic pollution from our oceans ditched from the team jersey in favour of Ineos – one of the biggest plastic producers in Europe.

"This is also a company that wants to frack large swathes of northern England and the East Midlands. Ineos has also been lobbying hard for the government to relax safety rules so fracking companies can trigger larger earthquakes before having to down tools,” he added.

“Cycling is one the UK’s most successful and popular sports, but do the likes of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome really want to be associated with a planet-wrecking company like Ineos?”

Sir Dave Brailsford, team principal, said: “Today’s announcement is great news for the team, for cycling fans, and for the sport more widely.

“It ends the uncertainty around the team and the speed with which it has happened represents a huge vote of confidence in our future.

“In Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos, I know that we have found the right partner whose vision, passion and pioneering spirit can lead us to even greater success on and off the bike.

It heralds the start of a hugely exciting new chapter for us all as Team Ineos.”

Sky added that “The practicalities of the transfer are subject to further discussion with the Union Cycliste Internationale.”

Team Sky
Team Ineos
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Dave Brailsford
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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42 comments

Avatar
The_Vermonter | 5 years ago
4 likes

The only questions Brailsford asked in the process are 1.) Do you have deep pockets and 2.) Are you equally or more morally objectionable than the previous sponsors?

Avatar
dobs | 5 years ago
7 likes

Ok then,

A huge chemical company involved in a controversial process, fracking, will be launching it’s involvement/investment at the start of The Tour of Yorkshire. In Doncaster,  where they want to FRACK! Why don’t we all just cycle and forget competition, teams and branding and then we will be free of all these pollutants - Repressive regimes, dodgy morals (betting companies, lotteries,) ....

Avatar
bigbiker101 | 5 years ago
3 likes

Well done the team for finding a new sponser, I am very happy everybody is keeping their jobs, like lots of people I've been made redundant and it is a truely horrible experiance what I wouldn't wish on anybody, great news for everybody in the team and cycling, so many sponsers pulling out it is great to see somebody new entering the sport.

Avatar
Htc replied to bigbiker101 | 5 years ago
3 likes

bigbiker101 wrote:

Well done the team for finding a new sponser, I am very happy everybody is keeping their jobs, like lots of people I've been made redundant and it is a truely horrible experiance what I wouldn't wish on anybody, great news for everybody in the team and cycling, so many sponsers pulling out it is great to see somebody new entering the sport.

 

This ^^, regardless of your opinion on the business undertaken by Inios this is good news for cycling. Continued investment is critical to the success of the sport.

Inios will be doing what they do whether they sponsored a cycling team or not.

Avatar
RobD replied to Htc | 5 years ago
1 like

Htc wrote:

bigbiker101 wrote:

Well done the team for finding a new sponser, I am very happy everybody is keeping their jobs, like lots of people I've been made redundant and it is a truely horrible experiance what I wouldn't wish on anybody, great news for everybody in the team and cycling, so many sponsers pulling out it is great to see somebody new entering the sport.

 

This ^^, regardless of your opinion on the business undertaken by Inios this is good news for cycling. Continued investment is critical to the success of the sport.

Inios will be doing what they do whether they sponsored a cycling team or not.

Exactly the point that some seem to have missed, Ineos would still be doing all this either way, and what they've done now is draw more attention to themselves, likely to an audience that are more than averagely environmentally minded but probably less likely to be the sort of people who would be investigating large petrochemical companies.  Some people may give them an easier time now, but I imagine a larger number would start to question what they do and would be more likely to support action against some of their activity now that it has been brought to their attention.

Avatar
kingleo | 5 years ago
3 likes

Friends of the earth are hypocrites, they all use plastic products, but they blame other people for polluting our world with plastic.

Avatar
growingvegtables replied to kingleo | 5 years ago
11 likes

kingleo wrote:

Friends of the earth are hypocrites, they all use plastic products, but they blame other people for polluting our world with plastic.

Nominated for the award of "Stupidest Post of the Decade". 

 

Although I'd have to accept there's some tough competition 2

Avatar
kimmcbride | 5 years ago
0 likes

tax dodging rich bastards new toy

 

Avatar
kimmcbride | 5 years ago
4 likes

tax dodging rich bastards new toy

 

Avatar
paulrattew | 5 years ago
2 likes

So what's happening with their identity at the tour de romandie? Will they start as with all the team sky kits and branding and then change mid race to ineos?

Avatar
handlebarcam replied to paulrattew | 5 years ago
2 likes

paulrattew wrote:

So what's happening with their identity at the tour de romandie? Will they start as with all the team sky kits and branding and then change mid race to ineos?

Depends when the jiffy bags containing new kit (and nothing else) arrive.

As for the new sponsor, congratulations to the staff whose jobs will be saved. Plus the increased budget should cover the cost of visas to work in Europe, if needed. But I won't be wishing them success.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to handlebarcam | 5 years ago
1 like

handlebarcam wrote:

paulrattew wrote:

So what's happening with their identity at the tour de romandie? Will they start as with all the team sky kits and branding and then change mid race to ineos?

Depends when the jiffy bags containing new kit (and nothing else) arrive.

As for the new sponsor, congratulations to the staff whose jobs will be saved. Plus the increased budget should cover the cost of visas to work in Europe, if needed. But I won't be wishing them success.

I thought most riders were berated for living in Monte Carlo, or whichever tax haven/sunny climate. They'll only need a visa for the Tour of Britain.

Adios Tour of Britain... 2

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