It has been only a month since Dave Brailsford was jettisoned from his role as Manchester United auditor<\/a>, having ruffled plenty of feathers in the corridors of Old Trafford and Carrington in his bid to revive a great sporting institution. Now the former cycling supremo is back in the saddle just in time for the Tour de France as Ineos Grenadiers seek their own renaissance.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s like a kid in a sweet shop, talking about climbs and getting back to the mountains,\u201d revealed team CEO John Allert. \u201cThat\u2019s the battlefield that he knows and loves. We have welcomed him back into the team with open arms. He\u2019s a not-so-secret weapon for us to use and we plan on using him to the fullest extent we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Brailsford spearheaded British Cycling\u2019s Olympic success in Beijing and London before taking charge of Team Sky and masterminding their domination of the Tour during the 20-teens, winning the race with Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome four times, Geraint Thomas and then Egan Bernal under the Ineos rebrand, although the glorious era was tainted by accusations<\/a> the team \u201ccrossed an ethical line\u201d.<\/p>\n His arrival at Old Trafford was not universally appreciated, and he clashed with staff at the club during his efforts to improve processes behind the scenes.<\/p>\n Now Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has redeployed Brailsford to his beleaguered cycling team, who are without a grand tour win in four years and have little hope of claiming the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, which begins in Lille on Saturday.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Carlos Rodriguez will lead the team at this year\u2019s Tour (Daniel Cole\/AP)<\/p>\n The long-term task to regenerate the team as regular Tour de France podium-botherers is enormous after losing so much ground to the modern alphas of the peloton, Visma Lease-a-Bike and UAE Team Emirates. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obvious we want to win the Tour, but there\u2019s no point just saying you want to win it,\u201d said Allert. \u201cWe’ve got to do more than we’re doing, clearly, to get better than the people that are dominating it at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n But in the short term, winning a couple of stages at this year\u2019s race would at least show that Ineos can compete and come out on top, if not over three weeks then in selected moments.<\/p>\n \u201cWinning stages is going to be really important,\u201d added sport director Zak Dempster. \u201cI think we need to be realistic in GC [general classification], but I think we need to be brave and bold and move the race where we can, and hopefully take time in creative ways. It\u2019s no secret that, face to face, there are guys who are stronger than us, that\u2019s the reality. But at the same time if we\u2019re smart then nothing\u2019s out of the question in terms of GC.\u201d<\/p>\n Get 4 months free with ExpressVPN<\/p>\n Servers in 105 Countries![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/15-82a7da2fc16f4b3391f3c9d55ae48990.jpg\")
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