Ineos hope for AI inspiration with Netcompany deal

Ineos Grenadiers hope to utilise artificial intelligence to return to the top of cycling after agreeing a new deal with Danish IT supplier Netcompany.

The team will be known as Netcompany-Ineos Cycling Team from next week's Giro d'Italia, and the five-year partnership means their annual budget will increase significantly to bring it in line with the sport's so-called 'super teams' such as that of current four-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar's UAE-Team Emirates-XRG.

The British team achieved record success as Team Sky and Ineos, winning seven Tours de France between 2012 and 2019, two Giro d'Italia (2018 and 2021) and two Vuelta a Espana Grand Tours (2011 and 2017).

"I think we'll get back to the top of the sport again - it's really exciting," director of racing and 2018 Tour de France champion for Team Sky Geraint Thomas told BBC Sport, adding: "The team has evolved a lot over the years - this is definitely, 3.0."

The money behind Pogacar's UAE-Team Emirates-XRG comes from the region's oil resources, while other big-budget teams include the Netherlands' Visma-Lease a Bike of two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard, and Germany's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe who have Belgian superstar and Olympic road and time trial champion Remco Evenepoel.

In the past three seasons, Ineos Grenadiers have fallen further behind those teams in terms of budget, overall wins and UCI points amassed.

Alongside their competitors' rise was the arrival of a peerless talent in Pogacar; the Slovenian has won 112 races across a seven-year elite career, which included the 2020 Tour de France, one year after Ineos' last win with Colombia's Egan Bernal.

Put simply, Pogacar has the racecraft and strength to accelerate away from, and outlast, any opponent in almost any race.

What Ineos hope will make the difference is using Netcompany's AI data platform Pulse, an "AI-driven orchestration platform" which uses data for "solutions in real-time decision-making", according to the Danish compan,y which manages data for HMRC and Heathrow Airport, and whose CEO and co-founder Andre Rogaczewski says is "a company fighting for Europe's digital sovereignty".

"For me, I struggle to turn my Apple TV on," says Thomas. "So I'm not going to say I'm tech-savvy, but information you want in one place quickly or for a [sporting director] or trainer or nutritionist to make decisions quickly for an athlete - that's where the benefit will be.

"I feel like I started [my career] at a time when I just had a heart-rate strap. Now it's all data with numbers here, there and everywhere. It's like a blizzard of data, and sifting through it - anything to help narrow that down and give more of an idea of what is happening is a good thing."

Following the success of the 'marginal gains' era of the past decade - in which the team exploited small, incremental improvements in several areas, such as aerodynamic efficiency, diet and race strategy - their fortunes plateaued as the rest of the peloton's professionalism and budgets mirrored the approach and caught up.

Ineos Sport hope the new partnership can bring the team back to the top, with a reported budget of about £60m per season, thanks to contributions from Netcompany, French oil firm TotalEnergies and Ineos.

Sir Dave Brailsford, team principal and director of sport for the whole Ineos Sport stable and who orchestrated much of the team's past success, said before the launch on Tuesday: "This is one of the most significant partnerships in cycling - a real vote of confidence not only in our team, but in the sport itself. It's a major moment for us and marks the beginning of a new chapter."

Billionaire team owner and Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe - who also co-owns Manchester United - has been looking for additional investment in his Ineos Sports portfolio in recent years, and said the deal "creates the right conditions to deliver more success".

But can status be turned into performance?

"Money is a key point," said Thomas. "But like in everyday life if you see some guy splash the cash on a load of shiny stuff, spending it in ridiculous ways, you're just wasting it really.

"It's knowledge and the human element - how they collaborate. Money is a big part, but it's not the be-all and end-all. We've got foundation as a team, now all we need to focus on is performance now we know where we're going."