John Allert's to-do list for 2025
The Ineos Grenadiers CEO has a huge task on his hands as he tries to turn the team around
After their worst season on record, Ineos Grenadiers gathered in Manchester last week for some much-needed team bonding and a chance for the new recruits to meet their 2025 teammates.
They toured Old Trafford, enjoyed off-season hospitality and said goodbye to the likes of Luke Rowe, who is among those departing.
While the sight of pro cyclists playing football at the United training ground made for a nice photo opportunity, the reality is that the team remain in transition and from a pure results standpoint, have even regressed in the last 12 months.
Uncertainty over their star rider, no Tour stage wins, and several underperforming elements all need to be addressed if the team are to return to their previous spot at the top of the sport.
Here are 11 items that should be on John Allert’s agenda over the coming weeks and months.
Sign a sprinter
The team has just hired a highly regarded track coach from the Dutch Olympic system in Dr Mehdi Kordi, and highlighted ‘sprinting’ as part of their overall strategy.
However, they have no natural fast finishes to work with after Elia Viviani was not retained and Jhonatan Narváez and Ethan Hayter departed. After failing to land Kaden Groves and then missing out on the chance to sign another sprinter this month, the priority has to be signing a fast finisher for 2026.
That hunt needs to start now with Tim Merlier, Olav Kooij, and Luke Lamperti all free in 2026. Without a Grand Tour winner on the cards over the next two seasons, the team needs another outlet in order to improve on the disappointing win tally of just 14 victories in 2024. A sprinter would alleviate the pressure on the stage racing specialists and give the team an added focus throughout the calendar.
Outside of the TT and the stage up the Mûr-de-Bretagne, what do the team have to aim for in the first nine days of the Tour? A sprinter would have solved that problem. There’s the making of a decent lead-out within the team, they just need a rider to finish off that work.
Clarify the Pidcock situation
Is the plan to carry on as if nothing happened? That might be the easiest and least dramatic approach but someone from the senior management has to stand up and explain what happened in the second half of the year, why certain staff were dispersed, and why Pidcock was benched ahead of Il Lombardia. That person isn’t Zak Dempster.