Rod Ellingworth resigns from Ineos Grenadiers

Rod Ellingworth has resigned from his position as Deputy Team Principal at Ineos Grenadiers and will leave the team at the end of the year.

Ellingworth worked for the British team over two periods and was instrumental in the Tour de France wins for Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas.

However, the team have struggled for Tour success in recent years and Ellingworth's position has come under increasing scrutiny.

In a text to GCN, the team confirmed Ellinworth's departure, saying: "The Ineos Grenadiers can confirm that Deputy Team Principal, Rod Ellingworth, will be leaving the team at the end of the year. No further comment will be made at this stage."

Read more: ‘I don’t know what the confusion is’ - Ellingworth denies any turbulence at Ineos Grenadiers

Before the official announcement GCN also spoke to Matteo Tosatto, a sports director who's leaving the team at the end of the year. He told GCN that he had not received any news from the team for the time being. The Italian was shocked and surprised by the news of Ellingworth’s departure.

"It’s super surprising for me because I don’t have news," he said. "Just before another journalist called me but it was a total surprise for me. I’m leaving the team so I have no news. At the moment I still have communication from the team until December 21 but there was no news today."

According to a report in The Telegraph, one more senior management member could also be leaving the set-up.

Who that could be remains unclear but the UK newspaper hints that Team Principal Dave Brailsford could step back from his role within the team in order to take a more dominant position at Manchester United, with Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe on the cusp of taking over a portion of the football club.

Upheaval at Ineos Greandiers

The Ineos Grenadiers team have already gone through a huge amount of change in the last few months.

Ben Williams, who until the summer was the Head of Performance and Support, left for a role in football, while Tosatto quit as a sports director in order to take up a similar position at Tudor Cycling. Another sports director, Roger Hammond, has also left the team.

Ellingworth's departure would leave John Allert – the team’s managing director – as the most senior member of staff. Allert did not respond to calls when contacted by GCN immediately after the Telegraph story broke.

In truth, there have been rumours about Ellingworth’s position since the Vuelta a España. There had been speculation, even at that point, that the 51-year-old might step down amid rumblings of discontent within the team.

Ineos Grenadiers had been the dominant force within men’s professional cycling, winning the Tour de France eight times between 2012 and 2019. However, the loss of key staff and an underwhelming recruitment programme were major factors in a gradual but not complete decline.

Ellingworth found himself in the tricky position of having to go back to riders who had signed initial agreements to join Ineos and tell them and their agents that the deals would no longer take place.

Read more: Ineos Grenadiers ice transfer deals

There was increasing frustration with the fact that, although Ellingworth had day-to-day control over small decisions, he was forced to wait for more senior members of the Ineos structure to sign off on decisions.

That meant that even basic contract renewals with existing Ineos riders, which were agreed upon in late spring or early summer, took far longer to sign than expected as a result of hold-ups with paperwork.

INEOS Grenadiers

• Nationality United Kingdom
• Founded 2010
• Team Principal Dave Brailsford
• UCI Code IGD
• Bike Sponsor Pinarello