Britain’s richest man in talks to take over troubled Team Sky

TEAM SKY have been in talks with Britain’s richest man about the possibility of taking over the all-conquering cycling outfit. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman and chief executive of the Ineos chemicals group with a net worth of £21billion, is said to be among a number of interested parties to have met team principal Sir Dave Brailsford, with insiders insisting yesterday that any deal to succeed Sky as owners and sponsors has not been agreed. But the team’s sport director Matteo Tosatto told Spanish newspaper

Marca that a new sponsorship deal would be in place before the start of the Giro d’Italia on May 11 and that the new backer was ‘European, from home’. Ratcliffe certainly has an interest in sport. Last year Sportsmail revealed that the 66-year-old Manchester United fan had met Chelsea officials and explored the possibility of buying the club from Roman Abramovich. He was told the Russian had no desire to sell. But Ratcliffe did team up with Sir Ben Ainslie to form Ineos Team UK, reportedly investing £110m in supporting the British Olympic sailing champion’s bid to win the America’s Cup in 2021. Ratcliffe attracted criticism last year when it emerged he was moving to the tax haven of Monaco two months after being knighted. Monaco, of course, is where many of the Team Sky riders are based, Chris Froome among them. And Ratcliffe is understood to be a keen cyclist himself. But the question is whether he would want to own a team that have been dogged by controversy in recent years. Potentially the biggest blow to Sky’s reputation has not yet materialised. The medical tribunal that was due to examine if their former doctor Richard Freeman ordered a banned drug for an athlete in 2011 looks set to be rescheduled for later in the year, probably August. It had been due to run from February 6 to March 5. Freeman’s health is understood to have been an issue. Sky’s association with the team will end after the 2019 season and Tosatto told Marca: ‘Before the Giro we will have an agreement almost completely safe for the continuity of the team.’ Tosatto dismissed talk of a partnership with the Colombian government and sponsorship by oil and gas firm Ecopetrol.