RATCLIFFE AND BRAILSFORD IN TANDEM AT THE BIG TEAM SKY REBRAND

IF THE anti-fracking protesters had managed to find the Yorkshire pub that hosted the launch of Team Ineos yesterday, they would have been met by a police officer, burly security guards and two knights arriving in a gas-guzzling helicopter. But there were no placardwielding environmentalists to be seen in Linton in Craven, and in a room occupied mostly by sports journalists not much opposition to Sir Jim Ratcliffe when he discussed the finer points of gas extraction and the recycling of plastics. Ratcliffe, as one might expect of Britain’s richest man, is fairly impressive. The towering 66-year-old certainly seems to know his chemicals, which a cynic might suggest is useful in professional cycling. ‘The majority of the fracking groups that I’ve met and heard about are ignorant about fracking,’ said Ratcliffe (right). ‘I think it’s outrageous that the government listen to a noisy, miniscule minority instead of looking at the science.’ He said his company are leading the way in the field of recycling plastic, giving Sir Dave Brailsford the opportunity to reject the accusation that a team who only last year were supporting Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign are guilty of hypocrisy. Ratcliffe also denied reports that he is now residing in Monaco, having faced severe criticism last year for becoming a tax exile shortly after being knighted. Nor does he seem to pay much attention to parliamentary reports because he has clearly chosen to ignore the controversy that has accompanied Team Sky in their 10-year existence. Asked if he had any concerns about buying a cycling team who might yet have to explain why their former doctor ordered testosterone that was delivered to the Manchester velodrome they shared with British Cycling, Ratcliffe said: ‘Clearly we were not ignorant of that. We did think about it. We looked at the processes in Team

Sky that prevent bad behaviour. I think they’re as good as they get. I have no interest in using methods to enhance performance that you shouldn’t use. I have no problem with marginal gains — better bearings, better chain links or better aerodynamics, that’s clever stuff, that’s fine. That’s all Formula One stuff. But I’ve got absolutely no interest in cheating. That’s not my game.’ Ratcliffe said they did grill Brailsford and Co. ‘We had those conversations,’ he said. ‘We are northerners, aren’t we? We would. We did the due diligence.’ His head of corporate affairs added that they enlisted the services of ‘independent people to have a look’ before agreeing the three-year, £120million deal. It became a bit of an exercise in both sides of this new sporting marriage insisting their new partner was perfect. ‘Sky made everyone aware with ‘PassOnPlastic and Ocean Rescue and we’re not giving up on that,’ said Brailsford. ‘But where Sky raised the awareness, Jim and the team are the guys who can actually do something about it. If anything, it’s a step in the right direction. ‘I’m not an expert in chemicals — I’m an expert in trying to make Chris Froome ride his bike faster.’