Ineos look to Bigham to boost Grand Tour chances

British engineer will be key to time trial and road prep, reports Vern Pitt

- Vern Pitt

Newly appointed Ineos Grenadiers performance engineer Dan Bigham will form a central part of the Grand Tour titans’ efforts to regain their Tour de France crown.

Bigham, who rode for Ribble-Weldtite in 2021 alongside his aerodynamicist work with teams including the Danish track squad, will have a role that reaches across the team, optimising equipment and rider positions and performance for both road races and time trials.

But he acknowledged the importance of his expertise as a time triallist would be key to the team’s goal to win all the Grand Tours.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Bigham said: “It’s an absolute no-brainer that we want to win the big Grand Tours. Part of trying to win them is the time trial. So yeah, obviously looking at what those are like, especially in the Tour. The opening time trial stage is in Denmark this year, serendipitous as that is, I now know that area well. I went to recce that with Steve Cummings just a few months ago.”

However, he added he actually saw bigger potential for his expertise in road races. “We road race more than we time trial,” he said. “There’s a chance to understand road racing better, to try and do a bit more research into that side. Because marginal gains, and all that, has obviously been fully utilised across the world of time trialling, but probably not to the same extent in road racing.”