In the Sky era, the team had the largest budget in cycling, but they have since been overtaken, most notably by UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The arrival of TotalEnergies as a jersey sponsor is part of Ineos’ attempt to increase their budget to compete with UAE.
“I'd like to think that from 2010, we've kind of earned the right to be called a super team, but it's a super team that needs to win more,” Allert said. “It’s not cheap to win and budgets keep going up and we’re not at the top of that heap anymore. But it's not just about money, it's also about competence and strategy and resources and all those good things and hard work.”
As well as Brailsford’s return to the fold, it has been reported that Geraint Thomas will have a role in Ineos Grenadiers management following his retirement at the end of this season, but the Welshman played a straight bat when asked about the matter on Wednesday.
“Maybe behind the scenes we're talking about stuff, but at the minute I'm just concentrating on just doing this race,” Thomas said. “I’ll worry about the ‘afterlife,’ as Ed Clancy calls it, afterwards.”