On Wednesday morning, Rapha’s CEO Fran Millar announced she was resigning. It was a surprise from Millar who, only a year ago, sat across from me at the company’s luxurious headquarters in North London, and outlined her vision for the brand’s future.
Millar joined Rapha in 2024 and her pitch to me, and several other cycling journalists, was that Rapha had to get back to being brilliant at what it does: producing high-quality cycling kit that’s arguably closer to fashion than sportswear.
It was part of what you could call a transparency mission. Following repeated headlines about Rapha’s financial losses, the rise of other luxury cycling clothing brands and the taint of heavy discounting, Millar wanted to restore Rapha’s reputation as it headed into its third decade.
The former CEO of Ineos Grenadiers and Belstaff spoke of Rapha collectively and was adamant: “We are the originals, we started this. We have a deep credibility and deep authenticity in this sport.” She said Rapha hadn’t done a great job of doubling down on that “differentiator”. It was time to do so.
Millar's conviction
Millar’s conviction in words and actions – she ended Rapha’s seven-year partnership with EF Pro Cycling because the relationship had “gotten tired” before announcing a new partnership with Team USA with the LA 2028 Olympics on the horizon – might have signalled she was in it for the long haul. Yet her resignation suggests otherwise and quickly reignited the questions and debate Rapha was keen to clear up less than 12 months ago.
When she announced her resignation on social media, Millar said her vision for the company was in place but that the next stage was “delivery” without her at the helm. Her departure could be seen as avoiding what that delivery entails.
Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon and Rapha released its own statement, which confirmed this. While Rapha claimed there are “encouraging green shoots” across the business, it said it believes “significant changes are essential”. Alongside the organisational restructure there would be “a formal consultation process with affected team members”.
A ninth consecutive loss
Rapha’s statement also revealed that it has continued to lose money. Its latest accounts show turnover to be £89m, down from £110m two years ago. It also made a loss of £25.3m for the period ending in January 2026 – the ninth consecutive year it has posted a loss.
There is more behind that loss than it may initially seem. Another person present at that meeting last year was Rapha’s chief financial officer Michelle Woolaghan. She explained that ever since Rapha was bought by the grandsons of the Walmart founder Sam Walton in 2017, there has been ongoing amortisation, essentially the depreciation of goodwill and tangible assets. Woolaghan said that amounts to roughly £10 million a year and will take close to a decade to pay off.
Former glory or a different path?
On the one hand, this has me wondering whether we can expect to see Rapha ever return to its former glory.
Rapha’s public profile and (maybe resultantly) its messaging seem to have focused more on the business side of things than its products in recent times. Millar wanted to regain the market share Rapha lost to brands such as MAAP and Pas Normal Studios.
Rapha also wanted to achieve a positive EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) before 2027, yet its latest figures show it had an EBITDA of -£5.6m compared to -£2.6m in the period ending in January 2025. Maybe perception, trends, styles and the times mean those goals are harder than envisioned.
On the other, maybe a return – an emphasis on being the originals – blinds us to Rapha’s future.
Rapha’s tie to the UK, and specifically London, fed into its early popularity. Yet the company is now looking to its network of riders, the US and China. Its Bentonville Clubhouse has seen 31% more new customers year on year; its Shanghai Clubhouse has recorded some of the highest footfall across the brand’s Clubhouse network. Meanwhile, Rapha Cycling Club membership has also returned to growth, increasing by 18% year-to-date.
A company’s scope and focus will change as it grows, and has to change in order for it to grow. Rapha is no exception. It might make it unrecognisable, and it might seem a shame. But there’s a lesson there about investing too heavily in a company’s vision. Simon Mottram’s original pitch document for Rapha, written in 2002, described it as a “passion brand”. And that “passion” was always going to be subject to change.
