The Tour de France is cycling’s pressure cooker for rumors. Every piece of news is put under a magnifying glass, but often there is also a grain of truth in the messages that are doing the rounds. There is now talk at the top of the peloton that INEOS Group owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose net worth is estimated at US$21.8 billion according to Forbes, is currently exploring whether he can buy Patrick Lefevere’s squad to become world champion Remco Evenepoel. to incorporate.
Came to three weeks ago Cycling Flash received word that Ratcliffe may be interested in taking over Lefevere’s team. The Los Angeles-based sports marketing agency Wasserman is also seriously investigating whether a cycling team is a lucrative business. This office also looks at Lefevere’s team. From America we understand that Wasserman is now reluctant because they do not immediately see the business model.
INEOS owner Ratcliffe is known to be willing to invest a lot of money in cycling (INEOS – Grenadiers budget is around 50 million euros), but that he mainly wants to play in the Tour de France for the overall victory. However, after Egan Bernal’s victory in the 2019 Tour, the team no longer plays in the battle for the ‘maillot jaune’. Given the force majeure with which Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel now dominate the Grand Tours, it also seems unlikely that one of the current INEOS riders can really participate in the battle for the Holy Grail of the cycling.
Last year, after the World Cup in Wollongong won by Evenepoel, it became clear that there is more than a flirtation between Evenepoel and INEOS-Grenadiers. Once again there was direct contact between father Patrick Evenepoel (who looks after his son’s affairs) and the team management of the British corps. Sports director Dave Brailsford sends Lefevere an app that says, “Congratulations. What a champion! If you want to sell it one day, call me’. It may say a lot that there was no smiley after this message.
Remco Evenepoel in conversation with Geraint Thomas. Photo: Cor Vos
Generous redemption sum
Now that the sounds are circulating that the now 68-year-old Lefevere may want to sell his team, ‘radio platoon’ is again talking about a transition from Evenepoel to INEOS-Grenadiers.
However, the reigning world champion is still under contract with Soudal-Quick Step until the end of 2026. The UCI regulations state that riders with a current contract may not be approached or bought off without reason, unless there is a compelling reason or in the case of a mutual deal. Then a lump sum payment of approximately three annual salaries would have to be paid for Evenepoel, which in his case would amount to more than ten million euros.
In an interview this week, Lefevere said that the transition from Evenepoel is not negotiable: “0.00 percent chance. With Remco I will and will continue to say no.” An understandable answer from Lefevere, because if Evenepoel leaves, his entire team will be dismantled. Many of the team’s sponsorship contracts are geared to this. And the departure of Fabio Jakobsen also indicates that Lefevere is fully committed to Evenepoel in the coming years. A logical choice.
The reality is that Evenepoel is counting on various reinforcements for its ‘classification train’. This is also necessary if he wants to compete with Pogacar and his strong UAE Emirates formation and the Jumbo-Visma of Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic in the coming years. Lefevere’s clout on the transfer market seems small so far, while it is also questionable whether he has the financial resources for these expensive servants. The fact that an imbalance in the interests of Evenepoel and Soudal-Quick Step can arise is quite significant.
Patrick Lefevere. Photo: Cor Vos
It irritates Lefevere that INEOS Grenadiers continues to lag behind its goldcrest. The British team would even like to offer Evenepoel six million euros in annual wages. “It has to stop, but you can’t stop it”, the Flemish team manager replies to Het Laatste Nieuws. And in the British podcast RadioCycling, Lefevere says: “It is not fair to chase someone who is under contract until 2026. To always make arrangements with him behind my back. At least that’s what ‘radio platoon’ says. Remco contradicts it, but there are too many rumors.”
Buy from Soudal-Quick Step
Buying Lefevere’s team seems almost the only option for INEOS Grenadiers to take over Evenepoel for next year. Rumors are circulating in the Tour de France that Ratcliffe is interested in pursuing this deal at the highest level. From multiple angles Cycling Flash it has now been taken care of and it is emphasized by some that this can be serious.
INEOS Grenadiers team manager Rod Ellingworth confronted us with this persistent rumour. “This is the first time I’ve heard this story. There is nothing wrong with this”, he is clear. Someone else high up in the British organization even calls it ‘bullshit’. And the Soudal-Quick Step team management also responds that they are only now hearing this ‘rumor’ for the first time.
Of course there are many reasons why it would be absurd for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to take over an entire WorldTeam alongside ‘his’ INEOS Grenadiers. Then you have the structure of two WorldTeams with double staff and riders. It would be very expensive to incorporate Evenepoel in this way.
There are plenty of smart constructions that allow you to get permission from the UCI to sponsor or own two WorldTeams. This should not be an obstacle. For example, Ratcliffe could build a WorldTeam for the grand tours and, for example, a ProContinental team towards the classics.
A merger team between INEOS Grenadiers and Soudal-QuickStep is another possibility, as both teams still have fewer than thirty riders for 2024.
Egan Bernal and Remco Evenepoel. Photo: Cor Vos
Other advantages are that INEOS Grenadiers will immediately have a women’s team among its ranks. After all, under Lefevere’s umbrella is also the AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep women’s team, which is led by former INEOS sports director Servais Knaven and his wife Natasja Knaven has always had a good relationship with Ellingworth. This would be an ideal scenario for INEOS and much better than building a women’s team from scratch.
Specialized
Finally, this would also finally provide the opportunity for Specialized to enter INEOS Grenadiers. Former Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg bought Italian bicycle manufacturer Pinarello last month. Pinarello has been associated with Team Sky since its inception in 2010. Glasenberg has a great preference for investments in sports-related companies. The South African previously bought the high-tech sportswear brand Q36.5, which came onto the market this year with its own cycling team. The fact that Pinarello will switch to this team and possibly break the connection with the British team seems realistic. And that would open the door for Specialized, which has been eager to work with INEOS Grenadiers for years, but certainly also wants to remain connected to Evenepoel.
Of course, these are all assumptions based on a rumor. But Patrick Lefevere, of all people, said himself last week: “Where there is smoke, there is fire.” The rumor that Ratcliffe is in the market to buy Lefevere’s team is very emphatically singing around at the very highest level in cycling. And for Ratcliffe, the cost of buying another cycling team is a pittance in his total net worth. Although the same applies to the Czech billionaire Zdenek Bakala (80% of the shares are owned by him) for whom Lefevere’s team is a favorite toy.
All the rumors in the Tour do make it clear that the game for Remco Evenepoel’s future may well become a business chess game at the highest global level.