Ineos Grenadiers hire new head of engineering as reshuffle continues

Ineos Grenadiers have appointed a new head of engineering and technology, in a continuing reshuffle of backroom staff within the team.

Dr Billy Fitton, who has spent the last six years with British Cycling, most recently as the national squad’s data and insights lead, will join the WorldTour squad ahead of the 2025 season.

“He will lead the team’s equipment testing and rider-technology integration through modelling and simulation approaches,” a team press release said.

Fitton’s appointment is the latest in a string of new additions at Ineos Grenadiers, and comes after Dan Bigham left his role as race engineer to join Red-Bull-Bora Hansgrohe.

Last week, following the least successful season in the team’s history, Ineos Grenadiers announced five new members of performance staff. These included: Tom Helleman as lead performance coach, Dr Mehdi Kordi as head of performance support and innovation, Dr Luca Oggiano as director of research and development, and former pros Kurt Asle Arvesen and Leonardo Basso as sports directors.

The team achieved just 14 road victories in 2024, compared to 38 in 2023, and 50 at its Team Sky peak in 2012, the year Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France.

The recent staff changes come under the watch of performance director Scott Drawer, who said he had spent six months “listening, observing and working with the team” to see what was needed to “set ourselves up for excellence for 2025 and beyond”.

“We have a highly motivated, hungry and ambitious team of coaches, sport directors and performance specialists who want to create an environment that allows our riders to fulfil their potential. That collective energy and desire will set us up for the challenges and opportunities that await in 2025,” Drawer said.

“We are going to spend the rest of this year making further positive changes: setting the team’s performance plans and goals, executing some key training camps and getting the whole team ready to race hard in January. We want to set the right tone from the start and will be working closely with our riders to establish the culture which will facilitate success and be fundamental to our future.”

When Bigham announced his departure from Ineos Grenadiers in August, he spoke of his frustration that the team was leaving performance gains “on the table”.

“It’s clear as day we should be doing things a lot better,” he told The Telegraph. “Let’s be honest, Ineos are not where they want to be, not where they need to be, and the gap is not small.”

Bigham’s comments came after Geraint Thomas, Ineos Grenadiers’ only Grand Tour podium finisher in 2024, likened the management structure within the team to a “coalition government”, saying it was “challenging”.

Ahead of the 2025 season, the team has also hired a new performance co-ordinator in Paddy Harrison, a PhD researcher at Loughborough University.