Ellingworth: ‘Ineos has a different edge to when I left'

British superteam’s new director of racing tells Vern Pitt why he left Bahrain-McLaren

- Vern Pitt

Ex-Bahrain-McLaren boss Rod Ellingworth has said he wouldn’t have returned to Ineos Grenadiers, the squad he spent 10 years with while it was Sky, if the team had remained the same.

Elingworth rejoined the team last month as director of racing after just a season and a half at Bahrain-McLaren.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, the British coach said: “I wouldn’t have gone back to this team if it had just been as it was when I left. It has a different edge to it at the minute, it’s got a new direction. I feel like I’m challenged every day.”

Ellingworth left Sky just as Ineos came on board as main sponsor in 2019. Later that year it was confirmed he was joining BahrainMcLaren as team principal, the first time he’d stepped into the top job.

The Brit was instrumental in restructuring the team’s operations and bringing onboard new signings including Mikel Landa, with whom he’d worked during his time at Sky in 2016 and 2017, and Mark Cavendish, whom Ellingworth has known since the Manxman’s time on the British Cycling Academy Programme.