No, not a simple partnership agreement but something much more important. Ineos and TotalEnergies are two authentic giants in the oil and energy sector, they have made and continue to make great deals together - the latest, from last spring, involves the sale of some of TotalEnergies' petrochemical activities to the Ineos group: Ineos Olefins & Polymers South took control of the four joint ventures operating in the French petrochemical sector in Lavera (Naphtachimie, Gexaro, Appryl and 3TC), as well as some stakes in the ethylene pipeline and storage network in France by acquiring the 50% that belonged to TotalEnergies - and from 2026 they could also find themselves united in cycling.

According to escapecollective.com, the two multinationals are working to join forces from the next season. Ineos has been looking for a sponsorship partner for months after Sir Jim Ratcliffe (in the photo) revised the figures of his commitment, as he did in other sports sectors where he was involved with his brands. And TotalEnergies would have the opportunity to take a further step forward: after acquiring Diréct Energie, which since 2016 was the sponsor of SA Vendee Cyclisne by Jean René Bernaudeau, in April 2019 TotalEnergies entered the field as the main sponsor, making its debut at Paris-Roubaix.

Now Ineos and TotalEnergies are working on a common project, probably also linked to other industrial businesses, and could create a new cycling giant with a budget of at least 70 million euros.

Clearly, these are hypotheses and rumors that the companies involved do not confirm, just as there are currently no reactions from Jean-René Burgaudeau, manager of the TotalEnergies team, who would find himself forced to quickly seek a new sponsor to continue the activity of what is a historic reality in French and world cycling.