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The ‘football face’ of Manchester United under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s stewardship is the brains behind successful cycling giants Team Sky and Team GB.
Sir Dave Brailsford is set to be named as the football face of the club under Ratcliffe being the Director of Sport at Ineos and working at Nice, who are also owned by Ratcliffe’s Ineos. Brailsford made his way as a cycling coach and later a performance director where he worked at British Cycling and Team Sky – which has since been renamed Ineos Grenadiers.
Ratcliffe has agreed a £1.4billion deal to acquire 25 per cent of the club and despite early delays, there is still hope he will arrive and be in place by the beginning of the January transfer window. Brailsford has since stepped back from Nice and has helped Ratcliffe’s bid at United.
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Brailsford worked as an export sales manager at Planet X Bikes before he was employed by British Cycling in 1998, later becoming performance director in 2003. He soon became known for his concept of ‘marginal gains’, where he would look to find 1% extra in different departments and also the cyclist’s weakness, making for a significant increase when they’re all put together.
The Derbyshire-born director oversaw Team GB win two cycling gold medals at the 2004 Olympics – their best performance since 1908. Team GB’s cycling team continued to improve as they won multiple world championships and topped the cycling medal table at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, where he was knighted following success at the London Games.
Man Utd fans – are you hoping Sir Dave Brailsford becomes the ‘football face’ of the club? Let us know in the comments section below
Due to his success at Team GB, Brailsford became the manager of Team Sky in 2010 and saw Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas win six Tours de France between 2012 and 2018. Brailsford remained at the team when Ineos took over as the lead sponsor in 2019 and two years later was appointed as Director of Sport at Ineos.
Brailsford was part of the Ineos delegation that visited Manchester to meet United chiefs back in March. He told ITV: “To be custodians of one of one of the biggest sporting teams, brands, in the world and trying to really support the team and go back to the success they deserve. And also the fanbase.
"I've worked in Manchester for a long time, we saw the team become a global phenomenon, Team Sky have done the same. I know Manchester really well so you get a sense of what the club is all about and what the fans want."
- Olympics
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