Sir Jim Ratcliffe is preparing to relinquish the naming rights of his Ineos Grenadiers professional cycling team by securing a new £100million title sponsor, which The Times understands will be the same Danish IT firm that has just become the primary digital operations partner for Heathrow airport.
Netcompany, which is regarded as one of Europe’s leading IT service providers and also works with HMRC, announced its deal with Heathrow last month and sources have told this newspaper that a five-year sponsorship agreement with the once all-conquering British road team is due to be unveiled before this summer’s Tour de France.
Since Sir Dave Brailsford’s exit from Manchester United and his return to the Grenadiers last year, the focus has been on how to deliver an eighth Tour win after winning seven titles in eight years between 2012 and 2019.
Ratcliffe plans to remain the principal owner of Ineos Grenadiers despite the new deal
MARTIN RICKETT/PA WIRE
The recruitment of the highly regarded Scot Oscar Onley and the French rider Kévin Vauquelin is central to that plan, but so is the need for more revenue beyond the £30million being pumped in annually by Ratcliffe at present. The view among the top teams trying to break the dominance of Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates XRG is that the budget needs to be nearer £50million.
That means selling off the naming rights, even if the British billionaire and co-owner of Manchester United plans to also remain the principal owner of the cycling team, with Brailsford and Geraint Thomas also continuing in their senior roles.
Both Ineos and Netcompany declined to comment when approached by The Times on Wednesday but it was only last month that Heathrow followed the airports in Copenhagen and Munich by joining forces with the Danish firm.
Ineos have recruited the highly regarded Scottish rider Onley, left, and the 24-year-old Frenchman Vauquelin, right
CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA
The multi-year deal was described as the largest digital upgrade in Heathrow’s history, as part of a broader £1.3billion capital investment programme for 2026.
Such a move into cycling will also be seen as significant, and something done to meet the costs of recruiting two riders the Grenadiers believe will be able to challenge Pogacar in the Tour in the next five years.
Onley, 23, enjoyed a breakthrough season after finishing fourth in last year’s Tour, but his recruitment from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL has come at a considerable cost, reportedly in the region of about £5million a year.
The Times previously reported on the Grenadiers’ “jersey” sponsorship deal with the French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies, which was agreed last year and may yet continue under a new team name.