Dave Brailsford is back and calling the shots at Ineos, but will he be happy going into 2026 without a Tour GC leader?
Good morning subscribers,
We’ll start with the news, and the reports that Zak Dempster will leave his sport director role at Ineos Grenadiers and join the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe management.
This was initially reported by Jonas Creteur and Ciro Scognamiglio, two excellent journalists who are always on the money. Our sources have also confirmed that the move will take place, and it follows Ralph Denk’s cleaning house by removing Rolf Aldag, Enrico Gasparotto and Heinrich Haussler from their positions immediately after the Tour de France. Dempster rode under Denk during his career, while Ciro has also reported that Geraint Thomas has accepted a senior management role at Ineos that will commence once the Welshman retires at the end of this season.
Given Brailsford’s return, they probably won’t be the only high-profile leadership changes at Ineos Grenadiers over the next few months.
When it comes to the roster, what we know so far is that Brailsford, since returning to Ineos Grenadiers, has regained control and oversight of all transfer activity. This has led to several high-profile deals being paused, including those involving Filippo Zana and Sam Welsford. As we reported last week, Zana, who was in the running for a €900,000 a year contract at Ineos, has since gone back to his current team, Jayco AlUla and asked for his place back. They’re not going to offer the Italian a ride for anything like that amount, if a deal can be secured, while all we know about Welsford is that Brailsford is sitting on the proposed paperwork that would turn a letter of intent to sign, into a fully fledged two-year deal.
And it’s not just the new recruits who are waiting anxiously. Michał Kwiatkowski, Ben Swift, Kim Heiduk (who has held negotiations with Jayco by the way), Brandon Smith Rivera, and Ben Swift are all waiting to find out if Ineos Grenadiers will offer them new deals. Back in May, before Brailsford’s anointed return, at least Rivera and Kwiatkowski were on the cusp of signing contract extensions, but the Pole is now talking to other teams, while Rivera’s future is intrinsically linked with teammate Egan Bernal.
What we know about Brailsford’s transfer behaviour in the past is that he tends to go big and bold, and the idea of him spending 2026 standing outside the team bus to welcome home Carlos RodrÃguez to an outside chance of a top-five finish in a Grand Tour simply isn’t going to be enough.