Ineos Grenadiers, the British cycling powerhouse, is turning to artificial intelligence to reclaim its former glory, announcing a transformative five-year partnership with Danish IT firm Netcompany. The team will be rebranded as Netcompany-Ineos Cycling Team starting at next week's Giro d'Italia, with a significantly increased budget aimed at closing the gap on cycling's elite 'super teams'.
The collaboration centers on Netcompany's AI-driven platform, Pulse, which promises to cut through the "blizzard of data" that modern riders face. Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner and current director of racing, admitted he isn't particularly tech-savvy but sees the potential: "Information you want in one place quickly for a sporting director or nutritionist to make decisions for an athlete—that's where the benefit will be."
Ineos (formerly Team Sky) dominated cycling from 2012 to 2019, securing seven Tour de France titles, alongside victories at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. However, recent seasons have seen them slip behind rivals like UAE-Team Emirates-XRG, Visma-Lease a Bike, and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, both in budget and results. The emergence of Tadej Pogacar—a peerless talent with 112 elite wins—has only widened the gap.
"I think we'll get back to the top of the sport again—it's really exciting," Thomas said, calling this new era "team 3.0."
Netcompany's CEO Andre Rogaczewski described his firm as "a company fighting for Europe's digital sovereignty," noting its existing work with HMRC and Heathrow Airport. Whether AI can decode the race data fast enough to topple Pogacar remains to be seen, but Ineos is betting big on the experiment.