Someone I know very well in the cycling world, but whose identity I should probably withhold, passed a comment on the new Ineos/Total Energies jersey for the Tour de France. “It makes them look like just another team, doesn’t it?”
I hadn’t looked at it that way. But once seen, it could no longer be unseen. The ethically questionable addition of petrochemical money to an already uncomfortable sponsor is one thing; suggestive of the waning interest of Jim Ratcliffe, and an end to the team’s access to the deepest recesses of a billionaire’s pockets. But, it’s the eye-catchingly shabby application of the new logo to the Ineos jersey (already looking incrementally more and more bland) that seems in keeping with the rapidly diminishing status of a once all-conquering team.
