Geraint Thomas has called Rod Ellingworth's resignation from his deputy team principal role at Ineos Grenadiers "gutting" and "surprising", saying that "he'll definitely be missed" at the British squad.
Thomas is the first rider to publicly speak out since Ineos Grenadiers confirmed that Ellingworth was leaving last Friday.
Ellingworth had played a key role in the rise of the British team from its inception as Team Sky as well as the successes of British Cycling. He set up the British Cycling Academy in 2004 and then worked as coach and performance manager at Sky/Ineos, achieving great success alongside riders including Thomas, Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome, and Bradley Wiggins.
His departure from the team, which he rejoined in 2021 after a one-year stint at Bahrain Victorious, was first reported by The Daily Telegraph on Friday before Ineos Grenadiers later confirmed the news to Cyclingnews.
"It was gutting really to see Rod step down," Thomas said in the November 21 episode of the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club Podcast before going on to hint at the reason for his resignation.
"I had spoken to him and he's sad to be leaving but you know family stuff or whatever – I don't want to go into all the details.
"Just from my side, having known him for so long – a good 20 years now – on a personal level I feel I know him well and we get on, and professionally, we've worked together for 20 years. I feel like he was good, he was great for the team. But yeah, things change, and people move on. It was quite surprising as well."
Thomas, who is currently in California for warm-weather training ahead of the 2024 season following his off-season "blowout" at home in Wales, said that Ellingworth had tried to contact him to deliver the news before it leaked to the press.
"I felt quite bad because he wanted to call me, and I've been here," he said. "I kept forgetting and I was like 'oh shit, it'll be okay, I'll just ring him tomorrow.' Then it was all over Twitter.
"He sent me a message to just say 'I'm leaving and blah blah blah, I just wanted to speak to you before it came out, but it seems to have leaked already which is no surprise, is it?'
"It'll be sad to see him go. But he'll still be around, he'll still be following, and I think he still wants to be involved in the sport because that's what he does and loves. So yeah, good luck to him and it's all change in the team now, I guess."
Ineos Grenadiers is going through several major changes this off-season, with sports director coordinator Roger Hammond having already left, directeur sportif Matteo Tosatto also leaving, and several key riders – including Tao Geoghegan Hart, Luke Plapp, Dani Martínez, and Pavel Sivakov – moving on.
More change could yet be on the way with team principal Dave Brailsford another figure who could possibly leave the team. He currently combines that role with his position as the Ineos group's director of sport but could move into a major role at Manchester United once Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe finalises his purchase of 25% of the football club.
Thomas, who recently extended his Ineos contract through 2025, didn't comment on the other big moves at Ineos this winter, instead taking a short time at the start of the podcast to talk about Ellingworth.
He told the story of how Ellingworth, then performance manager at Team Sky, waited at the finish line on stage 11 of the 2018 Tour de France for Dimension Data rider Mark Cavendish, who had missed the time cut on the mountainous day. Thomas, meanwhile, had won the stage, extending his yellow jersey lead on the way to overall Tour victory.
"Obviously, and Cav were in the GB Academy at the same time, so we've known Rod and worked with him for a real long time," Thomas said.
"Rod wasn't working with him on the same team at the time, but he was still a big part of Cav's career and life. He hung around at the top of the mountain when everyone had gone. Everyone was getting annoyed like 'Why do we have to wait here for this bloody guy to finish?' or whatever.
"But he stood there waiting and I think Cav appreciated that as well. Like when you've had such a grim day, you're out of the time cut, you're going home from the Tour and to see a friendly face there – it means a lot to riders as well.
"So yeah, he's a top bloke and he'll definitely be missed."
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