Rod Ellingworth tenders surprise Ineos Grenadiers resignation

De facto team principal calls time on his tenure with the British squad he helped assemble Adam Becket assesses the team's position

- ADAM BECKET

Last Friday Ineos Grenadiers confirmed that the 51-year-old Rod Ellingworth, who was involved in the original set-up of Team Sky back in 2009, would leave at the end of the season.

Former head of British Cycling and the UCI, Brian Cookson said the move was "very surprising". Cookson was involved in bringing Ellingworth into the BC coaching system in the early 2000s, and described him as "absolutely inspirational".

Ellingworth has been de facto in charge of the Ineos cycling project since 2021, as deputy team principal, despite Sir Dave Brailsford having the title of team principal.

Ineos have failed to live up to their high expectations, their last Tour de France win coming in 2019, after winning seven out of eight editions before then.

It took the British team more than eight hours after the story was broken by the Telegraph to put out a statement, which ran to only two short sentences.

Ineos exodus