Look busy, Dave is coming. Photo courtesy of SWpix.
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I might look quite the fool if Ineos Grenadiers announce a new signing later today, but I’ve heard from multiple, yet conflicting sources, that the team has paused negotiations and contract talks with riders and that all transfers are now being overseen by Dave Brailsford following his return to the team earlier this summer.
That information has been sent to me by a mix of agents, team managers, and individuals close to the situation.
During late spring and early summer, the team was linked to several riders. I reported that deals had been struck with Kevin Vanquelin and Sam Welsford and that Filippo Zana was on his way after agreeing to terms on a huge contract with the British team. Benoît Cosnefroy and Dorian Godon have also been linked to the team.
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On the cusp of the Tour de France, I also reported that the team were set to announce a new U23 men’s development team for next year. But since then, there’s been no news, no announcements and no big signings.
Now that’s not particularly concerning. Several teams, like UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Lidl-Trek and Jayco AlUla haven’t announced any deals either, and Decathlon and Visma are saving most of their powder for later in the month and even September, but then yesterday I asked about the transfer situation at Ineos and got this response from a source.
“Apparently, all contracts are on hold at Ineos with Dave coming back?!’”
One text message doesn’t tell the whole story, but then I received another from a second source that specifically referenced Zana. The rider had been offered a huge contract that was close to a million Euros per year, but in the past week, his representatives have reportedly gone back to Jayco and asked if the rider could stay because the proposed deal with Ineos was now uncertain.