Ineos Grenadiers, the UK-based road cycling team owned by billionaire investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has announced new partnerships with advisory, broking, and solutions company WTW and coffee brand Café de Colombia.
Through a three-year tie-up, WTW will serve as the team’s exclusive global insurance partner.
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The partnership includes WTW branding on the Ineos Grenadiers team jerseys and vehicles, while the two organisations will collaborate on integrated marketing and engagement efforts across key global markets.
Carl Hess, WTW CEO, said: “We are excited to announce this global partnership between WTW and Ineos Grenadiers, marking our strategic entry into sports sponsorship at the company level.
“Professional cycling was a deliberate choice. It’s defined by risk, preparation, and long-term outcomes, closely aligned with the challenges our clients face and the expertise WTW brings to managing complexity and sustaining performance.”
Meanwhile, Café de Colombia, the flagship brand of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, has come on board as the team’s official coffee partner.
The brand will be integrated into the Ineos Grenadiers team environments, both on and off race.
The deal marks the return of Café de Colombia as a cycling sponsor. The brand was prominent in the sport during the 1980s, where it was responsible for giving professional contracts to a generation of Colombian riders, including Luis Herrera and Fabio Parra, and became the title sponsor of a pro road-racing team that competed in multiple grand tours.
Notably, Ineos Grenadiers has several Colombian riders in its stable, including Egan Bernal – who became the first ever Latin American winner of Tour de France when he took victory in 2019, and went on to win the Giro in 2021 – and Brandon Rivera.
In terms of other commercial activity, the British cycling team is reportedly set to take on a new title sponsor in the form of Danish IT firm Netcompany in a lucrative agreement.
According to the Guardian, the Copenhagen-based company will pay as much as €100 million ($117 million) across the next five years to help push the team to contention, with a new name and visual identity in tow.
Ineos will retain control of the team, and other prominent sponsors such as TotalEnergies will remain connected to the side, but the firm will relinquish sole sponsorship branding for the first time.
Ratcliffe’s chemical company Ineos acquired sole control of the team, formerly known as Team Sky, in 2019, and since then has been the sole naming rights holder of the team.
Ineos has bankrolled the Grenadiers team into a strong position as one of the top franchises on the UCI World Tour, with one of the largest budgets, a strategy that resulted in much early success, including back-to-back Giro d’Italia wins in 2020 and 2021, but in recent years, the team has struggled to maintain a top position in the WorldTour pack.
