Geraint Thomas lands new Ineos role as struggling team make major reshuffle
Geraint Thomas has been appointed as the new director of racing at Ineos Grenadiers, a few weeks after retiring from cycling
Geraint Thomas has been appointed as the new director of racing at Ineos Grenadiers, a few weeks after retiring from competition at this year’s Tour of Britain. “This team has been my home since day one, and stepping into this role feels like a natural next step,” Thomas said.
The move by Thomas, who won the Tour de France in 2018, has been long-expected and comes after a major management reshuffle at Ineos Grenadiers, under which the sports directors Zak Dempster and Oli Cookson moved to the revamped Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team.
According to Ineos, Thomas’s newly created leadership role will see him working closely with Ineos’s head of sport, Dave Brailsford, and performance director, Scott Drawer, “providing crucial input into race strategy, rider recruitment, development and race readiness”.
Thomas, who last finished on a Grand Tour podium at the 2024 Giro d’Italia when he placed third to Tadej Pogacar, rode this year’s Tour de France and has a blend of stage racing and one-day racing experience.
“I’m passionate about helping the next generation come through, to pass on that experience and keep pushing the team forward towards our mission of winning Grand Tours again,” Thomas said.
The Welshman’s guile, experience and knowledge of the peloton will plug a gap in expertise that was apparent in recent seasons as the British team struggled to compete for the podium positions in Grand Tours. That much was acknowledged in July when the former Grenadiers team principal Brailsford, making his return to the Tour de France, admitted that after his sojourn at Manchester United, he had “a lot of catching up to do”.
Ineos Grenadiers have not won a Grand Tour since 2021 and the once-dominant team have been criticised by Thomas himself and former staff for falling behind the four-time Tour de France winner Pogacar and his rivals, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel.
“Ineos are not where they want to be, nor where they need to be and the gap is not small,” the aerodynamics guru Dan Bigham said, after announcing he was leaving the team in 2024.
Thomas’s new position was first mooted in 2024 when he told the Guardian the team’s management was “like a coalition government” and that “it was a lot more straightforward with Dave at the top. There was clarity with everything.”
Brailsford’s long-standing working relationship with the Welshman has been key to his recruitment. “Geraint knows what the process takes, how to deal with the highs and lows of elite sport, and his willingness to now share this and mentor others to do the same is a great asset for the team,” Brailsford said.