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Team Ineos to change name to Ineos Grenadiers ahead of Tour de France

New name aimed to “align the team” with the Grenadier 4x4 being developed by Ineos Automotive

It may sound like an NFL franchise, or perhaps a rival fan group to the TdF Beefeaters, but Team Ineos is changing its name to the Ineos Grenadiers, effective from the start of the Tour de France next month.

According to a brief statement from the team this morning, the change is designed to “align the team” with the Grenadier 4x4 vehicle from its owner and sponsor which will go into production next year.

Confirmed the name change Team Ineos said that its “new name and brand will officially launch in the week leading up to the Tour de France in Nice,” with the race itself due to start on 29 August.

A report from the Italian magazine Tutto Bici this morning also suggested that it will adopt a new blue kit to replace its existing red and black colours.

TuttoBici, which first reported the potential changes last month, says that the British WorldTour team has written to the UCI to make a formal request to change its name and kit.

UCI regulations permit teams to change their name and/or kit once a season, something that Team Ineos, then racing as Team Sky, has done on three previous occasions.

In the 2010 Tour of Britain, it replaced the blue band on its kit with a green band in support of its sponsors Rainforest Rescue initiative, and the same kit returned for the following year’s Tour de France.

Team Sky lead the Tour of Britain peloton (copyright Simon MacMichael)

More recently, in 2018, Team Sky riders wore a one-off white and black kit tying in with the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign.

Last year, when Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group bought the team and took over its sponsorship form Sky, both the name and the kit were changed ahead of the Giro d’Italia.

Bearing a striking resemblance to the Land Rover Defender, which ceased production in 2016 (the name has since been revised but in a very different-looking vehicle), the Grenadier was formally unveiled earlier this month.

It is named after the Belgravia pub where Ratcliffe is said to have had the inspiration for the vehicle, having “identified a gap in the market for a stripped back, utilitarian, hard-working 4x4 vehicle, built on purpose.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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32 comments

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Supers79 | 4 years ago
1 like

It sounds like the name of a Sunday league team 

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chunky | 4 years ago
2 likes

A road cycling team sponsored by an off-road vehicle.

Lol. Peak nonsense.

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fukawitribe replied to chunky | 4 years ago
3 likes

Indeed, why can't they get sensible sponsor sectors like flooring, shampoo, extractor fans, or glue ?

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srchar | 4 years ago
2 likes

Just FYI, the Grenadier isn't a Chelsea tractor - it's far too utilitarian. It's aimed at farmers and the like, who can no longer buy something from Land Rover that isn't a chintzy Chelsea tractor.

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Nick T replied to srchar | 4 years ago
6 likes

A bit like a Mercedes G Class then, farmers love those. I see loads of them driving back and forth between their various London smallholdings 

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Awavey replied to srchar | 4 years ago
1 like

Yes it's when they say on the intro video,weve designed the interior so it can be hosed down to clean it...you realise this isnt some poseurs 4x4 to do the school run in & stop for socially distanced afternoon tea at Claridge's, its a utility vehicle with a capital U.

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handlebarcam replied to Awavey | 4 years ago
3 likes

Awavey wrote:

Yes it's when they say on the intro video,weve designed the interior so it can be hosed down to clean it...

A feature also valued by Russian oligarchs and Saudi consulate staff. So the underground car parks of million-pound-per-unit apartment buildings will probably be full of them. And the streets outside dinner parties for Conservative Party donors.

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jaspersdog replied to srchar | 4 years ago
2 likes

Just FYI, where I live there are loads of 'lifestyle' Defender owners. Unfortunately I know some of them. They might occasionally stick a canoe on the roof to complete the look but otherwise these things have or are never going to see anything more than a pothole. Don't get me started on them having the wading kits stuck on just to complete 'the look'. 90% of these Grenadiers will be the same and Ratcliffe knows it.

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Butty | 4 years ago
3 likes

I'm surprised that Ratcliffe hasn't also sought the LTDA as co-sponsors just to make the entire team image as anti-green as possible?

How is that Grenadier going to make it to production? Its just a Landy 110 which I understood was retired due to brick shaped fuel inefficiency and also a safety hazard to peds and anyone else unfortunate to connect with the blocky front end. Presumably the maker is trusting in Boris moving to US standards of car fuel efficiency and safety very soon?

I pity the poor riders who are going to be "car salesmen" to sell this old dinosaur.

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Nick T replied to Butty | 4 years ago
0 likes

Unless their business model is based on selling within the U.K. only, they'll have to stick within global minimums. California laws are stricter than European in many cases, although Euro laws are as close as there is to a global standard 

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Nick T | 4 years ago
4 likes

this is the problem with sports sponsors, you get used to a healthy budget then your funding gets lifted when they leave so you scratch around for another high bidder and before you know it you're riding for Team Tena-Anusol

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handlebarcam | 4 years ago
8 likes

Quote:

It is named after the Belgravia pub where Ratcliffe is said to have had the inspiration for the vehicle, having “identified a gap in the market for a stripped back, utilitarian, hard-working 4x4 vehicle, built on purpose.”

It certainly is annoying when you build one by mistake. I did that very thing the other day, and I had to crash test it, do emissions tests, and set up a network of dealers. It was a total pain in the arse. Plus, I don't have Ratcliffe's billions, so was drinking in a less posh establishment at the time, and therefore my sponsorship deal is with what is now known as the AG2R La Slug and Lettuce team.

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esnifador | 4 years ago
5 likes

Jesus Christ. I really hope commentators still keep 'accidentally' calling them Team Sky. It wouldn't be so bad if the weren't a godawful wankpanzer. But it would still be pretty bad.

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Supers79 replied to esnifador | 4 years ago
1 like

esnifador wrote:

Jesus Christ. I really hope commentators still keep 'accidentally' calling them Team Sky. It wouldn't be so bad if the weren't a godawful wankpanzer. But it would still be pretty bad.

 

i wish they were still Team Sky, now that Sky is more palatable since Rupert Murdoch has nothing to do with them. 

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FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
4 likes

To be fair, equipping cyclists with grenades might make motorists think twice about punishment passes.

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SurreyHiller | 4 years ago
1 like

No wonder Froome wanted to leave.  This is an embarrassment... 

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Supers79 replied to SurreyHiller | 4 years ago
0 likes

SurreyHiller wrote:

No wonder Froome wanted to leave.  This is an embarrassment... 

 

Hopefully Thomas will join him soon 

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muhasib | 4 years ago
0 likes

Does this make the vehicle a 'Belgravia tractor' if its named after the Grenadier pub?

They seem to be having more kit changes than a Premiership football team.

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check12 | 4 years ago
1 like

O K, I think i just threw up in my mouth a little, hopefully nairo is back on form this year 

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iandusud | 4 years ago
6 likes

I'd normally support a home grown venture but the last thing we need is more gas guzzling Chelsea tractors on the roads. I'm so pleased Chris Froome has got out of this team as I highly respect him as a rider but had serious reservations about Ineos' takeover of the Sky Team but this is the nail in coffin as far as I'm concerned. 

If Ineos want to get into the car sector then surely they should be developing an EV, which at least would have some green credentials to connect it with cycling. 

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Liam Cahill | 4 years ago
4 likes

Might call them Team Sky Defenders for fun.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
1 like

“align the team”  - ?? 

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mdavidford replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

“align the team”  - ?? 

Isn't the team more often than not aligned anyway? Frequently on the front of the peleton.

I suspect there might be few drafting fines if they're going to start aligning them with a 4x4 though.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
6 likes

To be fair, equipping cyclists with grenades would at least even the odds against motorised vehicles.

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eburtthebike | 4 years ago
0 likes

So there's a massive car park full of these obcenities that they can't shift.  Oh dear, what a shame, never mind eh.

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Nick T replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
3 likes

They haven't built them yet. The plan was to build them in Wales, but they're now in talks to take over a plant from Mercedes in France due to brexit uncertainties 

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jollygoodvelo replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
0 likes

Nick T wrote:

...due to brexit uncertainties 

...caused in no small part by one Sir James ("call me Jim") Ratcliffe.

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HarrogateSpa | 4 years ago
2 likes

Pricks.

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Nick T | 4 years ago
4 likes

What better audience could there be to sell your massive 4x4 to

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visionset replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
5 likes

Nick T wrote:

What better audience could there be to sell your massive 4x4 to

Have you seen how many cars have bikes on?  As the cycling sector has grown recently, I am willing to bet the part of it strapped to auto has grown more.  So sad. Adventures start best from the front door.

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