Cyclingnews understands that Ineos Grenadiers will switch race clothing sponsor for 2024, with Spanish brand Gobik replacing Bioracer, as what appeared to be the new jersey was accidentally leaked by Egan Bernal as he arrived at the team’s training camp in Mallorca.
Bernal's Instagram post also suggested that Ineos Grenadiers will have new colours for their 2024 Pinarello race bikes, with the front of the bikes coloured orange before fading to red and then blue.
Bernal soon deleted the post but it sparked a flurry of speculation on the change of design and clothing sponsor.
A well-informed source confirmed to Cyclingnews that Gobik would work with Ineos Grenadiers.
Wielerflits reported that a source told them that Gobik is the new clothing sponsor from January 1, 2024. However, Ineos Grenadiers would only say ‘No comment’ when contacted by Cyclingnews.
Bioracer said in a statement that its partnership with Ineos Grenadiers had come to an end after two years, indicating they opted to step away from reaching a new agreement to save costs due to an economic downturn. That forced Ineos Grenadiers to search for a new clothing sponsor.
"As the post-covid situation has challenged not just us but our whole industry we took hard decisions to strengthen our business. That meant a revision of our operational costs, capacity and with that scaling down our sponsorship engagements as well," Bioracer said.
"We took this decision in close collaboration with Ineos Grenadiers. They fully understood our decision as we involved them from the get-go. With the new reality for our industry, we have instead opted to invest our money dominantly in our renowned product innovations, to satisfy and please current and future cycling-generations that aim to become faster.
Murcia-based Gobik will apparently stop working with Polti-Kometa team owner and manager Albert Contador and his ProTeam but it is unclear if Gobik will continue to sponsor the men’s and women’s Movistar team.
Contador has enjoyed a close relationship with Gobik in recent years but took to social media to thank the brand for their five-year relationship, saying they will ‘take different paths in 2024.’
Ineos Grenadiers have gathered in Mallorca for their usual December training camp as the team searches for a new team manager and several key staff.
Bioracer recently revealed to Belgian website Dhnet that they supplied around 2000 upper garments, 850 pairs of shorts and 7000 other accessories to Ineos Grenadiers, with the riders given a custom, tailored fit service.
The support staff arrived in Mallorca at the weekend with the riders arriving on Sunday and Monday for a camp that has been called ‘Sign On 2024’
Ineos Grenadiers recently confirmed that Rod Ellingworth will leave at the end of 2023, while Sport Director Coordinator Roger Hammond left late during the 2023 season and experienced directeur sportif Matteo Tosatto opted to move to Fabian Cancellara’s Tudor Pro Cycling team.
Ineos Grenadiers were linked with a mega-transfer for Remco Evenepoel in the summer of 2023 but with the Belgian sticking with Soudal-QuickStep in 2024, the British WorldTour team heads into 2024 with Geraint Thomas, Carlos Rodríguez, Tom Pidcock, and Egan Bernal as their team leaders.
