Ineos Grenadiers looking for second sponsor in order to return to 'super team' status

Ineos Grenadiers are searching for a second sponsor in order to compete with the "super teams" of cycling, it was revealed on Friday.

During a press conference, the British WorldTour team's CEO John Allert confirmed that they would continue beyond 2025, and that they're trying to "bring other people" on their "journey" in order to grow their budget.

"I can confirm that the team will exist into the next (2026-2028 WorldTour) cycle," Allert said, according to Cyclingnews.

"We are very lucky to have owners that are very passionate about this sport, that are personally involved in the sport and they get on a bike. They've had numerous opportunities if they didn't want to be in the sport, to make that clear but they do want to be in the sport."

"It's fair to say that Ineos don't want to spend more money," he continued, suggesting that a secondary sponsor was being searched for.

"So it depends entirely on what happens with this commercial activity," Allert said. "They very clearly do want us to be a super team and they know what it takes to be a super team. I'm not going to put a number on that, but it's a number that's greater than what we're currently spending.

"You don't need to be that clued-up to realise there's a reason why we're trying to bring other people on that journey with us. There's value to be created for other brands and we don't necessarily feel we have to, need to, or want to, go it alone.

"I've heard some bonkers rumours in the last couple of weeks about people buying us or investing in us or whatever else.

"We certainly have a commercial strategy that is an evolution of our strategy. We've appointed an agency and we're looking at commercial partnership opportunities, like most other teams are.

"It's a very crowded market. We haven't signed anybody. I'm not aware of us imminently signing anybody."

Ineos Grenadiers had a difficult 2024, winning just 14 races, and going through another management reshuffle at the end of the year. They also lost star rider Tom Pidcock to Q36.5.

"We need to come back and win bike races, start to win stages. Every race counts," Kurt Asle Arvesen, the team's new lead sports director, said.

"It might take one, two, three or four years before we're back, winning a Grand Tour, but I'm convinced we're going to be.

"There are only three Grand Tours, there's only only three winners, so it's very difficult."