Anti-fracking campaigners warn of Tour de Yorkshire protests against Ineos takeover of Team Sky
Anti-fracking campaigners have warned there will be protests at this year’s Tour de Yorkshire and again at this autumn’s road world championships, against the takeover of Team Sky by petro-chemicals firm Ineos.
The British company, which is part-owned by Britain’s richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe, confirmed on Tuesday that it would take over Team Sky on May 1, with an official launch on May 2 just prior to the Tour de Yorkshire.
Ineos has rights to frack in sites in the county, although it has not yet started drilling due to planning disputes, with Ratcliffe critical of the government’s policy in this area.
"No doubt there will be protests," said Steve Mason of Free Frack United who added that the “hypocrisy” surrounding the takeover was “astounding”.
Team Sky joined Sky's Ocean Rescue campaign last year, pledging to remove all single-use plastics by 2020.
"The hypocrisy is astounding and the greenwashing of their [Ineos’] image is scandalous," Mason said. "I for one will not be letting my kids watch cycling anymore with Team Ineos taking part and I won't be alone.
"No doubt there will be protests around the Tour de Yorkshire and the World Championships to be held in Yorkshire later this year."
As the fallout over the takeover of cycling’s biggest team continued yesterday, rival team boss Jonathan Vaughters said his biggest concern was the financial muscle Team Ineos would have.
Vaughters, who runs EF Education First Pro Cycling, said it was time to discuss some sort of budget cap in cycling.
“You’re looking at an almost impenetrable wall of money," he told BBC Radio 5 live's BeSpoke podcast. "You can basically go buy all the best riders. The question for the sport is if they are all on one team, is it fun for spectators to watch?
"If you think of it in terms of chess, it's essentially like you're buying more queens. Dave Brailsford has five or six queens on the team. Most teams can only afford one queen.
"I think a financial fairness rule would be helpful. In the NFL there are hard caps, so every team operates off the exact same budget. Since that started, the NFL from a fan engagements standpoint has outstripped baseball, NBA, everything else."
