Sir Dave Brailsford to step back from Manchester United role to renew focus on cycling, as Geraint Thomas poised to take “senior leadership position” at Ineos Grenadiers

Sir Dave Brailsford’s brief foray into the unforgiving world of football appears to be coming to an end, following reports that the marginal gains guru is set to return to his previous role as director of sport at Ineos, as well as rekindling his focus on cycling, as part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s latest shake-up of his beleaguered sporting empire.

That reshuffle, the Times reports, could also include the appointment of Geraint Thomas to a senior leadership position at the Ineos Grenadiers, after the 2018 Tour de France winner retires from racing at the end of 2025.

Since petrochemicals billionaire Ratcliffe took over Team Sky back in 2019, controversially renaming the cycling squad after his company’s Ineos Grenadier 4×4 vehicle, Brailsford – co-founder of the then-all conquering British outfit and often regarded as the driving force behind British Cycling’s 21st-century success – has shifted his attentions away from focusing solely on bike racing.

In 2021, he was appointed Ineos’ director of sport, overseeing the company’s entire sporting portfolio alongside his leadership role at the Ineos Grenadiers, and was also involved in running another of the sporting empire’s football interests, French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, even reportedly living in a caravan at the club’s training ground for a spell in 2022.

Last year, Brailsford stood down as team principal of the Ineos Grenadiers to take charge of footballing operations at Manchester United, after Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in the struggling Premier League club.

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At the time, his replacement at the Ineos Grenadiers, John Allert, insisted that the former British Cycling chief had not turned his back on cycling to devote himself to reinvigorating the doom-laden Old Trafford side.

“Dave’s the founder of the team. It’s a privilege that we still have him accessible to the team. His role is director of Ineos Sport, so he clearly has responsibility across a variety of different sports, not just cycling,” Allert said at the time.

“Clearly Dave has a passion for and a proven track record in cycling, so don’t ever be surprised to see Dave come on a race. But he won’t be coming on races to mark our homework. He’ll be there to support the team, as he does all the teams.”

However, Brailsford’s year-and-a-half stint at Old Trafford has been far from plain-sailing. The 61-year-old has been credited by Ratcliffe with overhauling United’s performance set-up, along with driving the £50m redevelopment of the club’s Carrington training ground and drawing up his ‘Mission 21’ plan, which aims to secure a record 21st league title for the men’s team and a first ever Women’s Super League triumph.

But, despite winning the FA Cup against local rivals, and current top dogs, Manchester City shortly after Ratcliffe’s arrival, performances on the pitch have mostly been abysmal. After Brailsford and Ratcliffe backed under-pressure manager Erik Ten Hag last summer, the Dutchman was sacked just nine games into the season.

He was replaced by Ruben Amorim, who guided United to 15th in the Premier League, the club’s worst league finish since they were relegated to the second tier in 1974, while a loss to fellow domestic underachievers Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final meant they missed out on a lucrative Champions League spot for next season.

According to the Times, Ratcliffe now wants Brailsford to renew his focus on his previous director of sport role at Ineos, overseeing what has become a transitional period for its sporting empire, as the petrochemicals firm continues to scale back its investment, ending sponsorship deals with the New Zealand rugby team and Tottenham, while scrapping its America’s Cup attempt.

Despite this scaling back process, Ratcliffe is believed to be committed to the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team, though recent reports indicate that a “multi-million pound” merger with French team TotalEnergies could soon be on the cards, after the British squad publicly stated its desire for fresh investment.

And as part of his rekindled director of sport role, Brailsford will also be expected to revive his focus on cycling, supporting the Ineos Grenadiers’ management team of Allert and performance director Scott Drawer.

Geraint Thomas, who will retire from racing after this year’s Tour of Britain, is also set to join this managerial set-up for 2026. Ratcliffe is believed to be a keen admirer of the 2018 Tour winner, and his Monaco neighbour, and sees him as leadership material, with Brailsford poised to play a key role in helping the Welshman transition to a team management position.

While Team Sky were the dominant force of the 2010s, winning six out of seven editions of the Tour de France between 2012 and 2018, courtesy of Thomas, Chris Froome, and Bradley Wiggins, they’ve struggled to adapt to the new Tadej Pogačar-led era of the 2020s.

Since Ineos took over as title sponsor in May 2019, the squad has won just one Tour de France – Egan Bernal’s victory coming just two months into that new era in July 2019 – and two editions of the Giro d’Italia, in 2020 and 2021.

A series of management changes and internal tensions marred a tumultuous 2024, the least successful season in the squad’s history, marked by a long winless run and the high-profile departure of double Olympic champion Tom Pidcock.

However, a successful 2025 season characterised by aggressive, attacking racing, has seen the British squad already rack up 14 victories by the end of May – the same number they achieved during the entirety of the 2024 campaign.