The INEOS director transformed British cycling by focusing on the small details, but the floundering Red Devils need a radical overhaul
Sir Dave Brailsford has only been a part of Manchester United for less than two weeks, but he has already witnessed an epic comeback against Aston Villa at Old Trafford as well as a crushing defeat at Nottingham Forest. It was a fitting introduction to a club that has never been far away from drama, but in the last decade has often felt like it is on fire.
Brailsford has been the most visible face of INEOS at Old Trafford following the firm's minority takeover of United and is conducting a thorough review of the club's operation on behalf of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, visiting the training ground at Carrington last week as well as following the team home and away.
Sitting next to Sir Alex Ferguson at the City Ground, the home fans taunted him by chanting "What a waste of money" and "Old Trafford is falling down". It will not have escaped his attention that English football's most successful club has become a laughing stock, and now it is his job to sort out the mess.
Brailsford has an excellent track record in cycling, but he has struggled to repeat that success in INEOS' other ventures into sport, in sailing, football and Formula One. And his methods will now be under the microscope like never before as the world is watching to see whether he can haul United back from the abyss and make them an elite institution again…
Getty Dominating the cycling world
An amateur cyclist in his youth, Brailsford grew his reputation in sport thanks to his work with British Cycling, first joining as a consultant in 1998 and then becoming performance director. He turned Britain from also-rans into the top force in track cycling, winning a stunning eight gold medals each at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, wiping the floor with the opposition.
He combined his work with British Cycling with his role as manager of Team Sky, and his success there was equally as astonishing. Under his watch, Sky won six Tour de France titles thanks to British riders Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, and in the first year under the INEOS ownership following investment by Ratcliffe, Brailsford oversaw another Tour victory by Colombian Egan Bernal.
AdvertisementHarnessing success with marginal gains
Brailsford became associated with the concept of marginal gains, explaining in 2008: "The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by one percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”
Among the habits he got his cyclists to embrace were taking the same pillow with them while travelling, sleeping in the correct position and washing between their fingers to prevent infection. His team also made bike seats more comfortable for riders, rubbed alcohol on tyres for better grip and lasered-in on clothing, getting riders to wear heated shorts to regulate muscle temperature and giving indoor racing suits to outdoor riders as they were more aerodynamic.
He also employed renowned sport psychiatrist Steve Peters, who went on to work with elite footballers including Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw and Joe Hart, and who told riders "you have to be somewhere between exceptional and phenomenal".
Getty Criticism and controversy
But not everyone was convinced by the concept of marginal gains. Many people put British Cyling's success down to generous funding from the National Lottery.
Sky's hegemony was also helped by them being the richest team in cycling, which allowed them to recruit leading riders from other teams and convert them into deputies. Even Wiggins, Brailsford's first major success story, described the concept of marginal gains as "a load of rubbish".
Brailsford and Sky's previous commitment to cleaning up cycling after its infamous doping scandals was also tarnished by various incidents, such as Wiggins receiving a therapeutic use exemption for a banned substance and Richard Freeman, Sky's chief doctor, being fired in 2021 for ordering testosterone a decade previously.
GettyMixed success in other sports
Brailsford's domination in cycling has come to an end in recent years, with INEOS Grenadier winning just one Grand Tour since 2019. And the firm's ventures into other sports, which Brailsford has led, have also had varying success. Mercedes' dominance of Formula One ended just after INEOS became a one-third shareholder in the team and in the last two years have been destroyed by Red Bull.
Brailsford took a huge interest in Nice when INEOS bought the French side in 2019, living in a camper van to be as close to the club's headquarters as possible. Nice have twice finished in ninth position and twice in fifth since INEOS came on board, and have made their faire share of terrible transfers during Brailsford's time.
However, they are enjoying their best season in recent years and are currently second in Ligue 1. Brailsford is reported to have had a big role in the hiring of 34-year-old manager Francesco Farioli, who has overseen their title challenge with Paris Saint-Germain.
Lausanne, the other football team within INEOS' stable, are currently languishing near the bottom of the Swiss Super League.