Ineos Grenadiers still in negotiation over Adam Yates renewal, team unlikely to sign replacement for Richard Carapaz
Ineos will develop its crop of young riders rather than sign another proven grand tour winner to replace EF-bound Carapaz.
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MEGÈVE, France (VN) — Ineos Grenadiers is still in negotiations with Adam Yates over a contract extension.
Yates signed for two years at the start of 2020 with his current deal set to expire at the end of the campaign
Riders can officially sign for new teams from August 1 but it looks likely that Yates will remain on the British team.
Interest had been raised by Yates’ former team BikeExchange with the possibility of linking up the current Ineos rider with his brother Simon. VeloNews understands that those talks have gone cold, but a deal with Ineos is likely to be settled after the Tour de France with Yates currently sitting in fifth overall after 10 stages.
“We’ve still got to negotiate. It’s looking OK. We’re just talking. As far as I’m aware Adam likes it here. No issues,” Rod Ellingworth told VeloNews from the Tour.
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One rider who is set to leave the team is Richard Carapaz with the former Giro d’Italia winner heading to EF Education-EasyPost.
VeloNews broke that story in June and while Ellingworth would not go into details he admitted that the team is braced for the departure.
“At the end of the day, everyone is free to do what they want. Richard is a brilliant bike racer and he’s really done well for us. He’s been brilliant for us and it would have been great for us if he had stayed but that’s life. It’s not official yet but I’m aware,” he said.
Ellingworth also hinted that the team would not dip into the transfer market to sign another proven grand tour winner to replace Carapaz.
Instead, the team will continue to develop its young crop of talent with Magnus Sheffield, Luke Plapp, Ethan Hayter, Carlos Rodriguez, and Tom Pidcock leading the charge.
“We’ve got a really good group and we’re looking at different options and different development pathways for the riders. The new generation and some of them are super ambitious and you’ve got to give them opportunities to keep progressing. We’ve got some great young talent and it’s about giving them chances. That’s why Tom is here, to let him see the opportunity ahead of him,” Ellingworth said.