Sir Dave Brailsford is reportedly to step back from his leadership position at the beleaguered Manchester United and return to his previous role as director of sport for the wider Ineos group, according to The Times. The move will bring him closer to the operations of Ineos Grenadiers, just 18 months after he stepped away from the cycling team.
The football club's disappointing season has forced minority share owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s hand as part of yet another reshuffle at Old Trafford. The billionaire owner of Ineos has rung the changes since coming on board, instigating regular staffing cuts, cancelling Christmas parties and axing free lunches for staff members in an attempt to cut costs and rediscover former glory. It appears the tycoon has now deemed the marginal gains pioneer surplus to requirements at the football club and better suited elsewhere amongst his wider project.
Does this mean Brailsford will return to working more closely with Ineos Grenadiers? With the Ineos sport portfolio shrinking, it seems possible that the 61-year-old could focus most of his attention on the cycling team, as it looks to re-establish itself at the upper echelons of the sport following a poor 2024 campaign.
While the team has successfully moved on from a tumultuous year and returned to consistent winning form, the underlying narrative for some time has been that the squad lacks clarity in its leadership structure. The uncertainty regarding leadership is still thought to be an issue within the team, with support expressed for Geraint Thomas moving into a management role following his retirement in September.
Thomas told The Guardian at last summer’s Tour de France that Brailsford’s previous role leading Team Sky was very different to Ineos’s structure: “Before, it was a lot more straightforward with Dave at the top. There was clarity with everything. There was a simple process, whereas now it’s got a lot more complicated.”
“It’s like a coalition government,” he said in an assessment of the structure last year, led by CEO John Allert. “You need a majority. Even if you didn’t agree with stuff [before] at least there was a clear ‘boom, boom, boom’ – that’s it, move on – rather than this grey area.”
If Thomas’ words last July are anything to go by, Brailsford returning to the fold could provide a figurehead again for the cycling team, someone to front up and be the face of the squad, as Richard Plugge is for Visma-Lease a Bike, or Ralph Denk for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. It’s unlikely the management structure will change again so soon, especially as it's favoured by Ratcliffe and Ineos, but with Thomas and Brailsford teaming up, there might be a new direction.
Back to the future
To some, Brailsford coming back could be seen as a negative, a step back when the team is, on paper, moving forward once more. However, throughout his tenure leading the cycling team, Brailsford achieved consistent results - seven Tour de France wins in eight years, with four different riders is a record that speaks for itself.
Allowing him to extend his influence into cycling once more could be the difference between a flash in the pan year of good results, and long term, sustainable success once more. There is the small matter of Ineos Grenadiers looking for a second sponsor, too, but keep your eyes on where Brailsford goes.
