Team Sky (UCI team code: SKY) is a British professional cycling team that competes in the UCI World Tour. The team is based at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, England, with a logistics base in Deinze, Belgium and an operational base in Quarrata, Italy. The team is managed by British Cycling's former performance director Dave Brailsford.
Team Sky launched in 2010 with the ambition of winning the Tour de France with a British rider within five years, a goal achieved within just three years when Bradley Wiggins won the 2012 Tour de France, becoming the first British winner in its history, while teammate and fellow Briton Chris Froome finished as the runner up and then went on to win the 2013 Tour de France, thereby achieving Team Sky's primary aim twice over within the original five-year time period. Froome won Sky's third Tour de France title in 2015, fourth in 2016 and fifth in 2017.
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History
Formation
The creation of the team was announced on 26 February 2009, with the major sponsorship provided by BSkyB. The company were searching for a sport in which they could have a positive and wide-ranging impact through sponsorship. British Cycling first began their relationship with BSkyB in 2008 with a £1 million sponsorship in the Sky Track Cycling team following the Summer Olympics in which British cyclists excelled. After a trip to the Manchester Velodrome, home of the National Cycling Centre, in 2008, BSkyB chairman James Murdoch quickly became keen on the sport. BSkyB were lobbied by British Cycling and key figures such as David Brailsford to launch a British road cycling team which would compete in road cycling's major events as well as the three Grand Tours in Italy, France and Spain. BSkyB agreed to finance the team with the aim of a British rider winning the Tour de France within five years.
Team Sky's original intention was to build a 25-man squad with a core of British riders and to nurture the young talent. The first six riders confirmed were Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings, Chris Froome, Russell Downing, Ian Stannard and Peter Kennaugh, all British riders. The ambition to "ensure competitiveness" through other signings, including a number of foreign riders, was expressed. On 10 September 2009, a further ten riders were confirmed as set to ride for the team. These were Edvald Boasson Hagen, Thomas Löfkvist, Kurt Asle Arvesen, Simon Gerrans, Juan Antonio Flecha, Kjell Carlström, John-Lee Augustyn, Greg Henderson, Lars Petter Nordhaug, and Morris Possoni. Further additions to the squad, including Chris Sutton and Bradley Wiggins from Garmin-Slipstream, Michael Barry, and Ben Swift from Team Katusha were made before the beginning of the 2010 season.
2010: The beginning
The team gained a victory in its first race in January 2010, the Cancer Council Helpline Classic in Adelaide, Australia, a one-day race prior to the Tour Down Under, with Greg Henderson and Chris Sutton taking first and second respectively. Team Sky's first ProTour event was the Tour Down Under in January. The team was awarded a wild-card entry for the Tour de France. Team Sky was also invited to compete in the other two of the year's Grand Tours. In February 2010 the team got its first one-day victory when Juan Antonio Flecha won the Belgian semi-classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with a solo break.
On 9 May Wiggins became the first Sky rider to wear the leader's jersey of a Grand Tour when he won the opening prologue of the Giro d'Italia. That same month Ben Swift became the first rider to win an overall classification winning the Tour de Picardie. In the Team's first Tour de France, Geraint Thomas finished second on the cobblestones of stage three, and wore the white jersey as leader of the young rider classification. The Tour was a disappointment for Sky though, with Thomas Löfkvist in 17th overall being their highest placed rider (Wiggins finished in 24th place). Löfkvist led Team Sky at the Vuelta a España, but the team withdrew after stage seven following the death of soigneur Txema González. In total Team Sky recorded 22 wins in their debut season, with a further 50 podiums.
2011: Grand Tour breakthrough
Team Sky again began the season in Australia, with Ben Swift winning two stages of the Tour Down Under, and finishing third overall. Juan Antonio Flecha and Jeremy Hunt finished fourth and sixth respectively in the Tour of Qatar in February, while Boasson Hagen finished first in the points classification and second overall in the Tour of Oman later that month. In the Classics season, Wiggins finished third overall in Paris-Nice and Geraint Thomas finished second overall at the Dwars door Vlaanderen. The team enjoyed a successful Tour of California, with Ben Swift winning stage two and Greg Henderson taking victory in stage three. At the Giro d'Italia, Thomas Lofkvist was the highest placed Sky rider, finishing 21st overall. The closest the team came to a stage victory was Davide Appollonio's second place on stage 12. Geraint Thomas secured Sky's first overall victory of the season, by winning the five-day Bayern-Rundfahrt race at the end of May. Boasson Hagen and Wiggins also won stages in the event, with Boasson Hagen claiming the points jersey. In June, Wiggins won the Critérium du Dauphiné, an important victory for Sky at the time.
At the Tour de France Sky finished third on stage two, the team time trial. Boasson Hagen secured the team's first ever Tour stage win on stage six. On stage seven, just over 40 km (24.9 mi) from the finish, a crash brought down team leader Wiggins breaking his collarbone and ending his tour. This prompted a change of approach from Sky, with their riders targeting stage wins. On stage nine, Juan Antonio Flecha was hit by a French media car, which resulted in Flecha colliding with Vacansoleil-DCM rider Johnny Hoogerland, who crashed into a barbed-wire fence. Both riders were able to continue despite sustaining injuries in the incident. Geraint Thomas won the combativity award on stage 12. Boasson Hagen came second to compatriot Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) on stage 16, before winning the next stage with a solo breakaway. He also finished second on the stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées. Rigoberto Urán was the highest placed Sky rider with 24th overall, whilst Boasson Hagen's efforts gave the team two stage wins in an eventful Tour.
After the Tour de France, Boasson Hagen's good form continued, as he won the Vattenfall Cyclassics and took a clean sweep of jerseys at the Eneco Tour. In the third and final Grand Tour of the 2011 season, the Vuelta a España, Sky riders Froome and Wiggins finished second and third respectively in the general classification. Chris Sutton won stage two, while Froome won stage 17 of the event. On 11 October, it was announced that world champion Mark Cavendish would be joining the team for the 2012 season, bringing an end to months of speculation. He was joined by his HTC-Highroad teammate Bernhard Eisel.
2012: Tour de France victory
In January, Team Sky confirmed their squad for the 2012 season which included eight new signings, Cavendish, Eisel, Sergio Henao, Danny Pate, Richie Porte, Salvatore Puccio, Luke Rowe and Kanstantsin Sivtsov.
At the Tour Down Under in January, Boasson Hagen won the sprint classification. In February Sky claimed the team classification at the Volta ao Algarve, with Porte winning the overall and Boasson Hagen the points classification. Wiggins won the overall classifications in the Paris-Nice in March and the Tour de Romandie in April.
Sky dominated the Tour de France general classification with Wiggins first and Froome second overall, and Cavendish winning three stages including the sprint on the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. On 9 September, the team achieved their 100th victory with Lars Petter Nordhaug's win in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. The team also topped the UCI World Tour teams classification, with a total score of 1767 points.
In preparation for the 2013 season, the signings of Vasil Kiryienka and David López García from Movistar Team and 2012 Italian national time trial champion, Dario Cataldo from Omega Pharma-Quick-Step were secured. The team have also signed Gabriel Rasch and on 1 October it was revealed that the team had also signed Joe Dombrowski and Ian Boswell, from the Bontrager-Livestrong team, as neo-pros. The year's Tour of Britain winner, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke had signed a two-year deal with the team. Riders leaving the team at the end of the 2012 season are, Cavendish who will move to Omega Pharma-Quick-Step, Lars Petter Nordhaug to Blanco Pro Cycling, Davide Appollonio to Ag2r-La Mondiale and Juan Antonio Flecha to Vacansoleil-DCM, Alex Dowsett to Movistar Team and Michael Rogers to Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank. Michael Barry and Jeremy Hunt will both retire.
Doctor Geert Leinders, who had been employed by the Team since 2011, was subject of an internal investigation after allegations of involvement in doping at Blanco Pro Cycling earlier in his career, and on 9 October it was announced he would no longer work for the team. The impact of the USADA reasoned decision on doping by Lance Armstrong and team mates at the US Postal team led Sky to re-inforce its zero tolerance anti-doping policy, with all riders and staff being subjected to internal interviews. Two members of the coaching staff, Bobby Julich and Steven de Jongh were released from their contracts under the policy. Head Director Sportif Sean Yates also left the squad in October citing personal reasons, although the Telegraph linked his departure to past involvement in doping.
2013: The second Tour de France victory
The 2013 season began with the Tour Down Under, where Geraint Thomas won stage two and claimed the points classification. In February Froome won the overall classification, points classification and stage 5 Tour of Oman. In March Richie Porte won the Paris-Nice, including two of the last three stages in the race, the queen stage and the concluding time trial. Sergio Henao claimed his first victory for the team at the Volta ao Algarve, whilst Froome took a stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico. The team then picked up a one-two at the Critérium International with Froome securing victory with a win on the final stage and Porte finishing runner up with a victory in the stage two time trial, also securing the points competition.
After his victory in the 2012 Tour de France Bradley Wiggins built his early season around targeting the 2013 Giro d'Italia and supporting Froome in the Tour de France. The team took victory in the stage 2 team time trial, culminating in Salvatore Puccio taking over the Maglia Rosa. Wiggins was hampered behind a crash on stage 7 and then himself crashed on stage 8. Wiggins abandoned the Giro due to a chest infection on stage 13.
Froome followed up with overall wins at the Tour de Romandie in April and Critérium du Dauphiné in June. Boasson Hagen retained his Tour of Norway title, winning the points classification and stage four of the race in the process. In July, Froome went on to win the 100th and 2013 edition of the Tour de France; claiming dominant stage victories on the stage eight final climb of Ax 3 Domaines, stage 15 to the summit of Mont Ventoux and the stage 17 individual time trial. Froome was narrowly beaten to the King of the Mountains prize by Movistar Teams Colombian climber and runner up, Nairo Quintana.
After the Tour de France, some of the team's key domestiques secured stage victories at the Eneco Tour (David Lopez), and Vuelta a España (Vasil Kiryienka). After the disappointment of the Giro, Wiggins returned with a renewed focus on the 2013 UCI Road World Championships Individual time trial event. As part of his build up he won the seventh stage time trial at the 2013 Tour de Pologne from Fabian Cancellara by a winning margin of 56 seconds. The team then recorded their first ever victory in their home stage race, with Wiggins claiming the overall title in the Tour of Britain winning the stage three time trial in Knowsley Safari park. Wiggins finished his season with second in the World time trial championships, finishing 46 seconds behind triple world champion, Tony Martin, with the team taking the bronze in the team time trial.
2014: Tour failure and the rainbow jersey
On 4 June 2013 it was announced that Australian Nathan Earle of the Continental team, Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers, had been signed by the team for the 2014 season. On 1 August 2013, the first day of the cycling transfer window, it was confirmed that Rigoberto Uran would move to Omega Pharma-Quick-Step for the 2014 season. On 22 August it was announced that Mathew Hayman would leave the team at the completion of the season and join Orica-GreenEDGE on a 2-year deal. On 6 September it was announced that the Irishman Philip Deignan of UnitedHealthcare would be joining the team after a strong 2013 season. After heavy speculation at the road world championships it was announced on 1 October that Spanish climber, Mikel Nieve, would join the team on a two-year contract, following the closure of his current team (Euskaltel-Euskadi) at the end of the season. On 23 December Sebastián Henao (cousin of Team Sky rider Sergio Henao) was announced as the team's final signing for the 2014 season.
The 2014 season started off well, Froome defended and retained his Tour of Oman crown and Kennaugh won his first stage race, the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali. Throughout the season the team has endured repeated illnesses and injuries, Geraint Thomas pulled out of the Paris-Nice after crashing out on stage seven whilst leading the general classification. Richie Porte abandoned the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, resulting in Porte not competing in the Giro d'Italia. A further blow came when Kennaugh pulled out of the Giro, with the team citing illness.
In April the team fortunes began to turn; Froome defended and won the Tour de Romandie, Wiggins won the overall classification of the Tour of California and Geraint Thomas won overall classification of the Bayern-Rundfahrt - each taking control of the race by winning the individual time trial stage respectively. Poor luck returned at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where Froome crashed whilst wearing the leaders jersey, despite taking three stage wins (two stages for Froome, one for Nieve) Froome finished outside of the top 10, 4' 25" down on race winner Andrew Talansky.
In July, Froome returned to racing to defend his Tour de France victory, hopeful of overall victory Froome crashed twice on stage four and abandoned the race (having also crashed the day before) with Xabier Zandio abandoning on the sixth stage of the race. As a result, Richie Porte inherited team leadership duties but lost time in both the Alpine and Pyrenean stages. The team's highest rider on general classification was Nieve in 18th position, 46 minutes 31 seconds behind the winner, Vincenzo Nibali this marked one of the worst performances of the team and the Tour de France. Not selected to ride the Tour, Kennaugh went on to take his second overall race victory at the Tour of Austria, taking the points classification in the process.
After abandoning the Tour de France, Froome announced he would ride the 2014 Vuelta a España where he finished in second position, finishing one minute ten seconds, behind the winner Alberto Contador. Froome was awarded the overall combativity award for the entire race.
In September, Wiggins returned to the Tour of Britain with the stated aim of defending his title. He finished third overall, winning the final day time trial by eight seconds from Sylvain Chavanel. Wiggins returned to action later in September at the road world championships, again with the aim of winning the time trial event. Wiggins won the time trial by over 25 seconds from perennial opponent, Tony Martin. Wiggins won Team Sky's first ever rainbow jersey.
On 28 July 2014, the team announced that Thomas had signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the team until the end of the 2016 season. In September Swift signed a two-year contract extension. On 13 August 2014, Cyclingnews.com reported that Edvald Boasson Hagen will not renew his contract and will leave the team at the end of the season. After the cycling World Championships, Sky announced that they had signed Leopold König, Nicolas Roche, Wout Poels, and Andrew Fenn, with Lars Petter Nordhaug rejoining the team after two years at Belkin. On 1 October 2014, it was announced that Dario Cataldo would leave the team at the end of the season to join Astana. On 24 October, the team announced the signing of their sixth rider, Elia Viviani. American climber Joe Dombrowski will also leave Team Sky to join Cannondale-Garmin. On 5 January 2015, Wiggins signed a contract extension with the team up until and including the 2015 Paris-Roubaix.
2015: The Third Tour de France and another World Championship
On 8 January, Richie Porte scored the team's first victory of the season by winning the Australian National Time Trial championships and went on to record the team's first stage win at the Tour Down Under. Elia Viviani scored his first win for the team, taking sprint victory on stage two of the Dubai Tour.
In February the team dominated the Vuelta an Andalucía and Volta ao Algarve with both Froome and Thomas taking both overall wins respectively. At the end of February Stannard scored the team second classic, taking a second successive victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The victory was made more impressive as Stannard made the four-man selection with three Etixx-Quick-Step riders; Boonen, Terpstra and Vandenbergh.
The team's next victory came at Paris-Nice where Porte led a team one-two (along with Thomas) at the summit finish of Croix de Chaubouret. Porte won famous the stage 7 time trial to the summit of Col d'Èze. In the same week, Wout Poels recorded his first win for the team when he secured victory on the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico to Castelraimondo.
In late March, Thomas emerged victorious in E3 Harelbeke after attacking his co-breakaway companions, Zden?k ?tybar and Peter Sagan, and soloing to victory. Ben Swift then won the second stage of Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali the same day and Richie Porte moved into the lead and eventually won the Volta a Catalunya Victory in Catalunya represented Porte's second overall win of the season and the fourth for the team.
In April, Bradley Wiggins won his final time trial for the team at the Three Days of De Panne. Later in the same week, Bradley Wiggins retired from the team and joined his own WIGGINS team, allowing him to focus on the 2016 Olympic Games. In late April Porte won the Giro del Trentino taking a decisive stage victory on the queen stage summit finish to Brentonico. The team then rounded off a successful April by taking victory in the Team Time Trial at the Tour de Romandie, placing Geraint Thomas in the yellow leaders jersey whilst new signing Wout Poels underwent surgery on a broken shoulder bone courtesy of his crash at La Fleche Wallonne.
The team began May with success; Lars Petter Nordhaug took the opening stage win at the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, whilst Ben Swift crashed out later requiring surgery.
The team entered the 2015 Giro d'Italia with Porte as team leader with the aim of claiming the Maglia Rosa. After limiting the time loss in the stage 1 team time trial Elia Viviani secured the first win for the team in a Grand Tour since the 2013 Vuelta a España on stage 2, also taking over the Maglia rossa. On stage 10 Porte lost 47 seconds, docked two minutes fine for accepting outside intervention, resulting in Porte dropping down to 12th on the general classification. Porte lost more time on the uphill finish on stage 12, a further two minutes on stage 13, and 27 minutes on stage 15. He then abandoned on the second rest day.
Chris Froome returned to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné, as part of his build up for the Tour de France, and the team won three stages and took the overall title for the fourth time. Peter Kennaugh opened the team's account taking the victory on stage one, just in front of the bunch sprint finish. Froome went on to dominate the final two summit finish stages, taking victory at Montée du Bettex (stage 7) and Modane Valfréjus (stage 8) giving him a lead of 10 seconds over Tejay van Garderen.
The team went into the 2015 Tour de France with their "strongest team ever" After a strong performance on the Mur de Huy Froome took over the race lead, and general classification by one second over Tony Martin. As the Tour entered the second week of racing stage 10 saw the first mountains stage, the summit finish of La Pierre-Saint-Martin, where Froome went on to take the stage win, putting significant time into his general classification rivals. During the remainder of the race the team faced intense scrutiny regarding their dominant performances; Porte was punched in the ribs by a spectator in the Pyrenees, and Froome had urine thrown at him by another spectator.
On the first rest of the Tour de France Porte confirmed he would leave the team at the end of the season. This would later, in August, be confirmed to be BMC Racing Team. The team signed Alex Peters and Tao Geoghegan Hart as stagiares for the remainder of the season, with the former also signing for two years. In September, Mikel Landa confirmed his move to the team for the 2016 season, with Mikel Nieve also signing a two-year extension with the team. Later, in the same month the team then signed their second neo-pro, Gianni Moscon, Michal Golas, Danny van Poppel, Beñat Intxausti and the 2014 World Road Race champion Micha? Kwiatkowski. On 28 September the team confirmed that Nathan Earle, Bernhard Eisel, Danny Pate, Richie Porte, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Chris Sutton would be leaving the team. The team also confirmed that Ian Boswell, Philip Deignan, Sebastian Henao, Peter Kennaugh, Vasil Kiryienka, Christian Knees, Mikel Nieve, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Xabier Zandio would be staying after signing new contract extensions.
Later in September Sky retained the World Time Trial Championships in Richmond when Vasil Kiryienka won by nine seconds from Adriano Malori.
2016: First Monument win and the fourth Tour victory
With Chris Froome delaying the start of his season a number of key deluxe-domestiques were afforded opportunities to aim for race victories at the start of the season. Peter Kennaugh took the team's first one-day race win at the second Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, whilst Wout Poels claimed his first overall GC victory at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, in the process taking two stages, the mountains and the points classifications. Froome returned towards the end of the Australian cycling season to claim the team's first ever GC win at the Herald Sun Tour. Geraint Thomas enjoyed a successful start to his 2016 campaign, notching up overall victories at Volta ao Algarve (for the second successive year) and Paris-Nice. Thomas' victory in the French stage race means that Sky have won four of the past five editions.
Sky entered the spring classics campaign with the perennial aim of claiming their first monument race. New recruit, Micha? Kwiatkowski, took his first victory for the team in the E3 Harelbeke semi-classic. As the classics campaign progressed the team showed great consistency, but fell short of their goal again, taking second in Milan-San Remo, fifth at the Tour of Flanders and third at Paris-Roubaix. Upon entering the Ardennes classics the team pinned their hopes on Kwiatkowski at La Fleche Wallonne, to no avail. Entering the final monument of the spring, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the team again led with Kwiatkowski. Sky finally achieved their coveted monument win, but it wasn't Kwiatkowski, but rather, domestique Wout Poels who emerged victorious on a day with poor weather conditions and enduring snow.
New recruit Mikel Landa claimed his first overall win for team - taking the GC at the 2016 Giro del Trentino only a week after claiming his first stage win for the team. Landa's stated aim for the first half of the season is the Giro d'Italia. Froome added to Sky's race win total by successfully defending his Critérium du Dauphiné title after taking the overall lead with a victory on stage 5 to Vaujany, becoming the fifth rider to win the overall title three times.
The team went into the 2016 Tour de France with what was without question an even stronger squad than the previous year. A week into the race on stage 8, Froome took many by surprise by attacking on the descent of the Col de Peyresourde which caught his main rivals off guard, resulting in a solo victory into Bagnères-de-Luchon to take the yellow jersey. On stage 11 to Montpellier in crosswinds, he gained more time as part of a 4-man breakaway in the final 12 kilometres of the stage alongside green jersey wearer Peter Sagan, Sagan's Tinkoff teammate Maciej Bodnar, and Froome's own teammate Geraint Thomas, placing second to Sagan in a sprint finish.
On stage 12 to Mont Ventoux (which was shortened to Chalet Reynard due to high winds), Froome was involved in a crash involving a stopped motorbike that also sent Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema down. With no usable bike, Froome had no choice but to run partway up the mountain until he was able to get a spare bike from his team car. Provisionally he had fallen to sixth place overall which would have given the yellow jersey to Adam Yates, however race officials decided to give him and Porte the same time as Mollema, ensuring Froome would hold on to his first overall position.
Superb performances in both the individual time trials (second on stage 13 to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc and winner of stage 18 to Megève) allowed Froome to gain even more time on his rivals, and despite a crash on stage 19 to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains where he finished the stage on Thomas' bike with support from Wout Poels, it was enough for him to win the race overall 4:05 ahead of second-placed Romain Bardet, becoming the first British rider to win the Tour on three occasions, the fourth rider to become a 3-time winner (joining Philippe Thys, Louison Bobet and Greg LeMond), and the first since Miguel Indurain in 1995 to successfully defend his title. It was also the first time the team finished a Grand Tour with all nine riders intact.
Sky started off their 2016 Vuelta a España campaign in late August by winning the team time trial on stage 1 and holding the red jersey for 2 days before surrendering it on stage 3, where Chris Froome took a 4th-place finish at Mirador de Ézaro to elevate himself into third place in the overall standings. He then got the victory on stage 11 at Peña Cabarga, the very same mountain where he got his first-ever Grand Tour stage win in 2011, and put himself into second overall just under a minute behind race leader Nairo Quintana.
A series of early attacks by Quntana and Alberto Contador on stage 15 to Aramon Formigal blew the race apart, causing Froome to be isolated from his teammates and to lose more than 2 and a half minutes on his rival. He gained most of that time back on the stage 19 time trial to Calp with a dominant performance, but was unable to make up the difference in the penultimate stage, finishing second overall in the end by just 1:23 behind Quintana. It was Froome's second Grand Tour podium following his win at the Tour de France, and just coming off of winning the bronze medal in the time trial at the Olympic Games in Rio.
In August 2016 the news broke that the team had signed Olympic Team Pursuit champion, Owain Doull from WIGGINS and Tao Geoghegan Hart from Axeon-Hagens Berman Later, in the same month, the team confirmed their third signing of the season - polish rider ?ukasz Wi?niowski from Etixx-Quick-Step. For the 2017 season Nicolas Roche will leave for BMC Racing Team, as well as Andy Fenn, Lars Petter Nordhaug (both to new Irish team Aqua Blue Sport) and Leopold König (to Bora-Hansgrohe). Luke Rowe, Chris Froome, Christian Knees, Salvatore Puccio and Geraint Thomas have renewed with the team. In September the team announced the signing of Kenny Elissonde from FDJ on a two-year deal. On 30 September, Wout Poels signed a three-year contract extension with the team. Elia Viviani signed a new 2-year deal on 26 October. The team announced on 27 October that it had signed Diego Rosa from Astana on a 3-year deal, and on 8 November announced the signing of Doull's WIGGINS teammate Jonathan Dibben.
The team finished the 2016 season 3rd overall in the UCI World Tour team rankings, with Froome as its highest-ranked rider, finishing 3rd overall in the individual rider ranking.
2017: Second Monument win and the fifth Tour victory
Sky started the 2017 season with three stage wins at the Herald Sun Tour as well as winning the teams classification, with new team member Kenny Elissonde finishing on the podium in 3rd place and Chris Froome finishing 6th overall. The team's first race win of the season came at Strade Bianche when Micha? Kwiatkowski took a solo victory after attacking 15 kilometers from the finish.. Geraint Thomas took a stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico and held the leader's jersey for one day, also taking the overall victory and one stage win at the Tour of the Alps. Sky won Paris-Nice for the fifth time in sixth years courtesy of Sergio Henao, who won the race overall by just 2 seconds over Alberto Contador. Kwiatkowski added to Sky's win total by winning Milan-San Remo in a three-up sprint, giving the team its second Monument win. Neo-pro Jonathan Dibben won the individual time trial stage at the Tour of California, the team also winning the team classification with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Ian Boswell placing in the top 10 overall.
Thomas and Mikel Landa were appointed the team's joint leaders for the Giro d'Italia. At one point in the race, Thomas was sitting second in the general classification, however on the 9th stage to Blockhaus a fair chunk of the peloton was involved in a crash involving a stopped motorbike, which took down Thomas, Landa and most of the other members of the team. Thomas attempted a comeback after placing second in the following day's time trial, but the extent of his injuries were as such that he abandoned the race prior to stage 11. Landa continued as sole leader, taking several top-3 finishes on several mountain stages before finally winning stage 19 to Piancavallo. He went on to win the mountains classification and the super-combativity prize, also winning the Cima Coppi for being the first to cross the summit of the Stelvio Pass on stage 16.
The team participated in the inaugural Hammer Series, a 3-day event consisting of several different challenges. In the climbing event, Tao Geoghegan Hart helped his team to second place behind Movistar thanks to a brilliant effort. The sprint event saw Elia Viviani finish 4th, but the effort gave Sky enough points to take over the lead going into the final event, the Chase. Their collective efforts in the team time trial-style Chase was enough to win the overall title, a full second ahead of Team Sunweb. Froome returned to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné and finished 4th overall, just one second off the podium. Teammate Peter Kennaugh won the penultimate stage at Alpe d'Huez. On 30 June, the eve of the Tour de France Grand Départ, Froome signed a 2-year contract extension with the team.
The team then went into the Tour de France with yet another strong lineup and the goal to help Froome win his fourth overall victory. In the opening prologue stage in Düsseldorf the team placed 4 riders within the top 8 led by Geraint Thomas, who became the first Welsh rider to wear the yellow jersey. He was followed by Vasil Kiryienka in 3rd, Froome in 6th and Kwiatkowski in 8th - Froome putting between 35 seconds and nearly a minute into most of his general classification rivals. On stage 5 to La Planche des Belles Filles, Froome took third place behind stage winner Fabio Aru, which moved him into yellow and Thomas to second place. The 1-2 placing on GC held until stage 9 to Chambéry, when Thomas was involved in crash on the descent of the Col de la Biche and had to abandon the race with a fractured collarbone. On stage 12 to Peyragudes, Froome cracked within the final kilometer, ceding 22 seconds and the yellow jersey to Aru. On the final approach on stage 14 to Rodez the team stretched out the peloton, splitting it into several groups due to crosswinds allowing Froome put 25 seconds into Aru, enough to retake yellow by a margin of 18 seconds overall. Stage 15 to Le Puy-en-Velay was seen by many as a major moment and turning point for the team. While ascending the category 1 Col de Peyra Taillade, Froome suffered a mechanical issue which distanced him from the main group of GC contenders due to a significant acceleration by the AG2R La Mondiale. Froome made it back to the main group of contenders, with the help of his team mates. Mikel Landa, who had stayed within the leading group, dropped back to bring Froome back to the other contenders and keep his overall lead intact.
Froome and Landa performed strongly in the Alpine stages to Serre Chevalier and Izoard helping Landa move into 4th overall. Going into the crucial time trial, Froome led by 23 seconds ahead of Romain Bardet and 29 seconds over former teammate Rigoberto Urán. In the final time trial in Marseille, Landa put in a brave effort despite Bardet's struggles on the stage, however the Frenchman was able to keep his place on the podium by a single second. Froome's strength in the time trial helped him put nearly 2 minutes into Bardet and 25 seconds into Urán, finishing third on the stage 6 seconds behind stage winner Maciej Bodnar and 5 seconds behind Kwiatkowski. It was enough of a buffer for Froome to secure his fourth Tour victory and third consecutive, putting him one win away from joining the likes of Anquétil, Indurain, Merckx and Hinault. He also became the 7th man to win the Tour overall without winning a stage, however he did amass 10 top-10 finishes. Sky also won the team classification for the first time in their history, leading from start to finish. Additionally, it was the first time in over 50 years that a team had both the overall winner (Froome) and the "lanterne rouge" (teammate Luke Rowe).
A week after the end of the Tour de France, Michal Kwiatkowski continued his strong rides in the one-day classics by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián, and on 8 August signed a three-year contract extension. After months of recovery following his injury, Wout Poels returned to form by winning the final stage of the Tour de Pologne and finishing 3rd overall. Landa followed up his performance in the Tour with overall victory in the Vuelta a Burgos, also winning two stages, the mountains classification and the points classification.
The team announced the signings of Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar Team) and David de la Cruz (Quick-Step Floors) for the 2018 season. Whilst Mikel Landa transferred to Movistar, Mikel Nieve to Orica-Scott, Peter Kennaugh to Bora-Hansgrohe and Ian Boswell to Team Katusha-Alpecin. Elia Viviani ended his contract a year early to join QuickStep for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Sky Bike Video
Sponsorship
According to the results of a study commissioned by Cyclingnews.com and performed by Repucom, the team gave more media value to their sponsors and partners than any other cycling team. The team delivered approximately $550m in advertising value, the highest amount achieved by any professional team.
BSkyB provided £30 million in sponsorship for the team and will back the team as name sponsor until the end of 2013. The team also receives further sponsorship from 21st Century Fox (previously News Corporation) and Sky Italia. Pinarello supplies bicycle frames and forks. On 5 January 2010, Adidas were announced as the team's official apparel and accessories partner. Gatorade, Marks & Spencer, Oakley, IG Markets are additional sponsors and Jaguar are providers of the team cars. The team jerseys were changed to black and green beginning with the 2011 Tour de France, when the team formed Sky Rainforest Rescue, a three-year partnership with WWF to help raise awareness of deforestation in Brazil.
On 25 June 2013, the team announced that the logo of 21st Century Fox (the direct successor to News Corporation following the spin-off of its publishing business) would appear on the team's kit and team vehicles.
On the second rest day of the 2016 Tour de France, the team announced they had signed a four-year extension with Pinarello - supplying the team with bikes until 2020.
Castelli will provide the team's kit beginning in 2017 after their 3-year partnership with Rapha ended. The new kit was revealed during the Rouleur Classic event on 3 November 2016.
Media
A five-part documentary series following the team's 2012 season, Team Sky and British Cycling: The Road to Glory, premiered on Sky Atlantic on 30 August 2012. Another documentary Bradley Wiggins: A Year in Yellow, following Wiggins' exploits in the 2012 season was first shown on the same channel in November 2012. The team have also produced two books chronicling the 2012 Tour de France and 2013 season- 21 Days to Glory and The Pain and the Glory.
Doping policy
The team has a zero-tolerance approach to doping. All its riders and staff must sign an agreement that they have no past or present involvement in taking illegal substances. Anyone breaching the agreement at any time must leave the squad. Previous team members such as team doctor Geert Leinders, sports director Steven de Jongh and coach Bobby Julich have all left the team when their involvement in doping prior to working with Sky became known.
This approach has been criticised by David Howman of WADA, who has argued that fear of losing their job will discourage people with a history of doping from confessing.
Although there have been speculations that Team Sky's tactics and success imply use of banned substances, Brailsford has strenuously denied any team use of illegal substances, citing his team's success in the Olympics as proof that you don't need to dope to dominate.
In September 2013, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was asked by the UCI to explain a potential discrepancy in his biological passport data. In December 2013, British Cycling confirmed it had been instructed to begin disciplinary proceedings against Tiernan-Locke by the UCI. Sky stated the blood values in question were taken in 2012, when Tiernan-Locke was a member of the Endura Racing squad, and he was suspended from all team activities pending a decision. In July 2014 Tiernan-Locke was banned from competition until 31 December 2015 by the UCI, resulting in his contract with the team being terminated with immediate effect.
In March 2014, Sergio Henao was removed from race schedules for at least eight weeks pending the conclusion of an "altitude research programme", following tests that were taken over the winter whilst Henao was training at altitude in Colombia. In June 2014, Henao returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse, after completing an independent research programme investigating the physiology of "altitude natives" in conjunction with the University of Sheffield.
In April 2016, the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) opened an investigation into Sergio Henao's biological passport data from between 2011 and 2015. As a result, the team withdrew Henao from their active roster. After investigation, including a review of the research done in the previous year for Team Sky, CADF declared Henao had no case to answer, and he was restored to the racing squad.
TUE's, UKAD and subsequent fallout
Therapeutic use exemptions
In September 2016, Russian hackers hacked the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ADAMS anti-doping system and released data on a number of athletes, including Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins. Therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) are medical exemptions athletes can be given when they need treatment for pre-existing medical conditions where the drugs used in the treatment are on the WADA prohibited compound list. The leak demonstrated that Wiggins had received TUEs for triamcinolone acetonide in June 2011, June 2012 and April 2013, a number of days before the start of the 2011 Tour de France, 2012 Tour de France, and 2013 Giro d'Italia respectively. Wiggins also received TUEs for salbutamol, fluticasone, formoterol and budesonide whilst at Team Highroad. Froome had received TUEs for prednisolone in May 2013 and during the 2014 Tour de Romandie.
In response Froome said he had "no issues" with the leak whilst Wiggins' spokesperson said "there's nothing new here".
UKAD investigation
In October 2016, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) opened an investigation into Team Sky and British Cycling. It was revealed that Simon Cope delivered a package, to the team, during the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, giving it to team Doctor - Richard Freeman - confirming the package contained some form of medicine. Neither the team nor Cope could confirm the exact contents of the package. Former rider, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (who has since served a ban for an anti-doping violation) claimed that Freeman had administered Tramadol to the British national team during the 2012 UCI Road World Championships. In late October, parliament announced it would open an investigation into the relationship between the medical package and former rider, Bradley Wiggins. In December 2016, UCI President Brian Cookson urged both Team Sky and general manager, Dave Brailsford to give "full disclosure" about what was in the package. British Cycling has warned Cope about his relationship with both the team as well as the British National team.
In December 2016, Brailsford announced that the package contained the legal drug, Fluimucil - a mucolytic compound which helps the body to remove sticky and thick mucus that can often be found obstructing the airway, resulting in coughing. British Cycling officials maintained that they did not know the contents of the package, whilst the Daily Mail broke the news that Brailsford had attempted to have the package-story killed in the media.
In March 2017, British Cycling admitted its failure in correctly recording the contents of the package, whilst the team maintained that no anti-doping rules had been broken.
In early March news broke around a number of riders potentially considering asking Brailsford to resign from the team, however in the same day Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Peter Kennaugh, Michal Kwiatkowski and Elia Viviani came out in support of their General Manager.
In March, former team rider, Joshua Edmondson admitted to the BBC that he violated the teams "no needle" policy by injecting himself with a cocktail of vitamins - carnitine, folic acid, 'TAD' (reduced glutathione - two or three times a week, for a month. The team stated that they found the vitamins, which are not prohibited compounds, and needles in the riders room. A day later the UCI's Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation has asked UK Anti-Doping to assess Edmondson's admission.
Team roster
Major results
Olympic, world, continental and national champions
Awards
- Velonews.com Velo Awards - Best Men's Team (2013)
- Velonews.com Velo Awards - Support Rider of the Year - Richie Porte (2013)
- Velo d'Or - Best rider - Chris Froome (2013, 2015)
- London Design Awards - Product Design, Sport and Active life category - for the Dogma F8 in conjunction with Pinarello and Jaguar (2014)
- European Sponsorship Association Excellence Awards - Best Use of PR - in conjunction with Jaguar (2014)
- Cyclingnews.com - Best Male Team (2015,2016)
- Cyclingtps.com.au CT Awards - Ultimate Team Player - Richie Porte (2015)
- Cyclingtps.com.au CT Awards - Most Impressive Team (2015)
- Cyclingnews.com - Moment of the Year (Chris Froome's run up Mont Ventoux, 2016)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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