Team Ineos are set to be renamed before this year’s Tour de France.
Cycling’s biggest team will become the Ineos Grenadiers, named after a new model of car being released by billionaire Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in 2021.
Ineos recently announced they would not renew the contract of four-time Tour champion Chris Froome beyond this year.
The team are yet to announce the squad who will ride at the Tour, which starts on 29 August.
It is expected they will race in a new strip and colour scheme, little more than a year on from the transition from Team Sky to Team Ineos.
Under the leadership of Sir Dave Brailsford, the team has won seven of the past eight Tours – six out of seven as Team Sky, and again last year as Ineos in the form of their new star, 23-year-old Egan Bernal.
The team, which has the biggest budget in cycling at about £20m a year, have the strongest squad in the sport, and are again favourites to win this year’s race – delayed from July by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ineos are keen to promote the Grenadier – a new 4×4 SUV – before its release next year to compete with the likes of Land Rover.
The company is also further increasing its presence in sports sponsorship, including Formula 1 and sailing’s America’s Cup.
Ineos, primarily a chemicals company, is Britain’s largest privately owned company and in 2018 posted annual pre-tax profits of £2bn.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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