Luke Rowe is exiting Ineos Grenadiers earlier than expected, after already signaling he would not see out the end of his contract, for a job at rival World Tour team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
The Welshman will in just three weeks come off the payroll at Ineos Grenadiers, where he spent his full 13-year pro career, joining in 2012 when it was Sky Procycling.
Rowe (34) signed a two-year extension with the British team last winter but had already indicated earlier this year he had decided not to remain racing until the expiry of that deal. Still, his exit from the team is now happening earlier than was planned.
He was due to remain until the end of the year but has now brought forward the departure date by two months, to November 1st, when he will begin his new role as assistant sports director with the French team.
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“I took a bit of time to reflect on my future and see what the new chapter would be,” Rowe said in a statement issued by his new employers. “The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale project appealed to me, particularly with the big step forward made this year in terms of performance, but above all with the future project and the long-term vision.
"I will be eager to bring my experience from the years spent at the highest level and to support the riders, especially in the classics.
“The other part of this new project is the team’s ambition to become more international. Obviously, there are some incredible French talents but, with this approach, the team can also be a very attractive option for English speakers and international riders looking to join the team.”
Rowe, a very experienced rider who has filled the role of road captain at times for Ineos Grenadiers, is the latest high value member of personnel to exit Ineos Grenadiers. Confusion also remains around the role of Steve Cummings, the sports director left at home for key races this year.
Dan Bigham this season left Ineos Grenadiers, where he worked as a performance engineer, along with close colleague Jonnny Wale, with both joining rival World Tour team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.
Bigham had already signaled the fact he would leave Ineos Grenadiers after he competed in the Olympic Games TT for Great Britain, saying he believed things should be done differently at the British team and the time had come to move on.
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There have also been comments from star riders Geraint Thomas and Tom Pidcock, revealing issues within Ineos Grenadiers after the management shake-up following the departure of team boss Dave Brailsford.
Pidcock said at the recent Tour of Britain that issues within his Ineos Grenadiers team were distracting him from performing at his best, and said speculation about his future was not helping.
“Yes, it’s true that there are a number of things within the team that I have to deal with at the moment. And to be honest, they don’t help me to perform optimally,” he said.
“I have to think about a lot more than just performance-related things at the moment. And that means that the focus on the things that are really important, namely racing, is not ideal.”
Asked if the problems were about the structure of the team he replied: “I think I’d better not say anything more about this.” And when he was put to him he might leave, he said: “I have a contract until the end of 2027. I can’t say more.”
His team mate, Geraint Thomas, also recently said since there had been management changes at the team he felt direction had been lost. Specifically, he believed the team needed a clearer plan, with a decisive voice deciding on strategy and then everyone following that path.
“It’s like a coalition government,” Thomas said of the team decision-making now. “You need a majority. Even if you didn’t agree with stuff (under Dave Brailsford) at least there was a clear ‘boom, boom, boom’ – that’s it, move on – rather than this grey area.”
When performance engineer Bigham left Ineos Grenadiers for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, he spoke about he felt the British team was not achieving its potential.
“How I want to do performance is not particularly aligned with how Ineos wanted to go about it. I wanted more autonomy, more ability to action my ideas. And I wasn’t really getting that at Ineos,” he said.
“I feel that a lot of performance we’re leaving on the table and that frustrates me because it’s clear as day we should be doing things a lot better. Let’s be honest, Ineos are not where they want to be, not where they need to be and the gap is not small.”
