(đź“·: Photography by James Huntly)
Dan Bigham, a master aerodynamicist and a key cog in the British track cycling team, has revealed he will leave his role as performance engineer at Ineos Grenadiers after the Games, saying the team “lacked clarity” and “needs to do things a lot better”.
Bigham, who worked with the Danish track cycling team at the last Olympics after feeling the British track cycling team rejected his ideas but is competing for Great Britain at these Games, told the Telegraph that Ineos Grenadiers have “lacked clarity” since Sir Dave Brailsford’s departure and expressed “frustration” at missed performance gains.
“The way I wanted to perform didn’t particularly fit with the way Ineos wanted to do it. I wanted more autonomy, more ability to put my ideas into practice. And I wasn’t really getting that at Ineos,” he explained, confirming there were similarities to his situation with GB a few years ago.
“I feel like we’re leaving a lot of performances out and it frustrates me because clearly we should be doing a lot better. Let’s be honest, Ineos are not where they want to be, not where they need to be and the gap is not small.”
Bigham also feels he didn’t receive as much support as he would have liked for the Olympics, with the team ultimately offering him three months of unpaid leave to prepare from May.
He continued: “Dave (Brailsford, Ineos sporting director) hasn’t been particularly involved since I joined the team. I see the media saying things about Manchester United and a distraction, but I don’t think that’s the case. The fact that Manchester United are somehow acquired (by Ineos) has no bearing on Ineos Grenadiers as far as I know.
“Dave had a very clear vision, a way to execute it and a plan in mind. Maybe to some extent that’s been lacking. We know what it takes to win, but how do we get there? What are the processes? That’s what’s been lacking. That’s also what frustrates me because I feel like I have a very clear idea of ​​the external energy equation, the drag and where we need to go, but we haven’t committed to some of the things that I think could deliver pretty significant performance.”
In response to the Telegraph article, an Ineos Grenadiers spokesperson said the team was “very proud” of the support given to Dan and argued that due to “the strength and depth we have in this area across a number of talented individuals”, the team’s programme would be “unaffected” by his departure.
