Ineos Grenadiers have confirmed three significant changes in their management structure for the 2024 season following the departure of team manager Principal Rod Ellingworth and former sports director co-ordinator Roger Hammond.
Steve Cummings has been named as the new director of racing, Scott Drawer is the team’s new performance director and John Allert steps up from managing director to CEO of the British WorldTour team. Former Movistar rider Imanol Erviti has also joined the team as a directeur sportif.
Drawer worked as Head of the Performance Hub at Sky and Ineos Grenadiers between 2016 and 2018 and has 25 years of experience in high performance sport.
He joins Ineos from the Millfield private school where he was director of sport and is likely to focus on finding and managing the marginal gains that once helped the team dominate in Grand Tours.
Cummings lead Ineos Grenadiers from the team car as directeur sportif in 2021 and 2022 but will now have a more strategic role.
Allert was the only remaining senior manager involved fully with the team after the loss of Ellingworth and Dave Brailsford’s move to manage the different sporting activities at Ineos, including the expected investment in Manchester United football club.
Ineos Grenadiers are currently holding a training camp in Mallorca, Spain, where they announced the changes.
As Head of Research and Innovation at UK Sport, Drawer was reportedly involved in a secret ketones trial for the 2012 London Olympic Games, which involved various cyclists. He has also worked for England Rugby, as well as time with Team GB, where he led research and innovation across five Olympic cycles.
“When the opportunity came to return to this team, I jumped at the chance,” he said.
“The Ineos Grenadiers are entering an exciting phase, they have some big goals for the future and I can’t wait to be a part of it. This is a performance-led team with innovation at its heart, and I am looking forward to working with a group that’s so focused on excellence and competing to win.”
Cummings was clear about the team goals.
“We’re absolutely focussed on getting back to the top step of the podium,” the former Tour de France stage winner said.
“We have an impressive depth of experience combined with an exciting mix of young talented riders in this team, all complemented by a world class group of staff. We will give absolutely everything to achieve our goals and I can’t wait to start the new season.”
As CEO, Allert will have responsibility for the day-to-day running of Ineos Grenadiers, reporting to Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc at Ineos Sport.
“This team has created an incredible and successful legacy, but our ambitions for the future are greater than ever. The strengthening of our performance team is perfectly aligned with these ambitions,” he said.
The overhaul of Ineos senior management comes in the wake of the confirmation of the departure of Ellingworth in mid-November.
The 51-year-old Englishman was part of the team since its inception as Team Sky in 2009 after working with Brailsford at British Cycling. Tension between Brailsford and Ellingworth reportedly arose during the summer as Ineos Grenadiers tried to sign Remco Evenepoel after again struggling to be competitive at the Tour de France.
Evenepoel eventually opted to stay with Soudal-QuickStep for 2024 after the failed merger with Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers confirmed Geraint Thomas, Carlos Rodriguez and Tom Pidcock as team leaders, while a number of talented riders, including Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ben Tulett, Pavel Sivakov and Luke Plapp moved to rival teams.
The British WorldTour team have won seven editions of the Tour de France, as well as the Giro d’Italia on three occasions and the Vuelta a España twice and three of the five Monuments – Paris-Roubaix, Milan-Sanremo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
However the rise of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) since 2020 has impacted the success of Ineos Grenadiers in the Grand Tours and other major races.