Bradley Wiggins chips in on Britain's richest man's anticipated new sponsorship of Team Sky. He believes Ineos will be an even better sponsor than Sky.
Bradley Wiggins has said an Ineos chemicals take-over from the Sky broadcasting company as title sponsor of Team Sky looks perfect for the squad.
He added that for Dave Brailsford; working with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the man behind Ineos, would mean no shortage of money.
And it also meant Brailsford would be answerable to just one person, who was interested in cycling, rather than a corporation trying to impose its way of doing business.
Ratcliffe (66) is chairman and majority shareholder of the Ineos chemicals company. He is worth £21 billion and is Britain’s richest man.
He looks odds on to be the new sponsor of Team Sky from the beginning of next year. An announcement is expected as early as today.
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“Dave will want to retain control, and it is Dave's way in terms of the way he manages the team, the way he sets the team up,” Wiggins said.
He was speaking during his Eurosport show, which is back for the 2019 season; the first episode is below.
“I think he would have been reluctant to have another multinational company that came in that wanted it for the advertisement and to get their name out there,” he said.
“(A multinational) would want the control; ‘this is how we want to do it in terms of how we advertise our company’.
“I think that would have been a big point for Dave. In some ways it's an ideal situation.
“(Jim Ratcliffe is) the richest man in Britain and you’d imagine that the kind of money that they’ve asked for is nothing to him.
“He’ll probably get it written off his tax bill,” he laughed. “Or, I’ve just seen he’s gone to Monaco with his money…
“I’m aware of this guy though I’ve never met him. He’s got a house in Majorca and he’s really into cycling; rides his bike.
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“So I’d imagine this is someone who loves cycling ‘and I’ll put my money in’. Dave can continue running out this team with all his plans and philosophies.
“So it's an ideal situation for him and he is answerable, you’d imagine, to one man – it's his money. It will certainly help that team.”
Bradley Wiggins added if the deal was confirmed in coming days, as expected, it would set the riders up for a worry-free season.
Geraint Thomas would be already thinking about life after cycling. And he may be considering ventures after his career, based on the earnings he was expecting in coming years.
The fact Team Sky had lost its sponsor soon after Tour de France champion Thomas signed a contract would have played on his mind in terms of his long-term future plans, Wiggins said.
“Obviously he was in high demand to go to another team,” Wiggins explained of Thomas after the Tour victory.
“He's decided to stay with Sky, sign a new contract. And as he signs, Sky announce they’re pulling out.
“It would have been a worry for Geraint and those guys. But I'm sure behind the scenes, Dave and that would have been reassuring them, 'it's alright, I think we've got something in the bag'.
“It's March now and they can concentrate on the rest of the season and do what they are paid to do.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe backed Brexit but has relocated to Monaco and last year offered Roman Abramovich £2 billion to buy Chelsea football club.
And two years ago he acquired a controlling stake in Lausanne football club in Switzerland.
Last year he invested £110 million in Sir Ben Ainslie’s Ineos UK; a sailing team that bears his chemical companies name.
He insisted no other sponsors were permitted because he did not want his backing of the team becoming complicated.
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