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Team Sky Sign Five New Riders

Team Sky

Team SkyTeam Sky has announced the signing of five new riders for the 2015 season – Andrew Fenn, Leopold König, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Wout Poels and Nicolas Roche.

 

Andrew Fenn (GB) – Fenn joins Team Sky after three years in the professional ranks. In 2012, his debut season as a pro, he won back-to-back victories at the Trofeo Palma and Trofeo Migjorn in Mallorca. Winner of the junior Paris-Roubaix in 2008, Fenn is a powerful rider with a fast finish and is well suited to the Classics.

 

Leopold König (Czech Rebublic) – One of the biggest up-and-coming talents in the sport, König recently securing a seventh-place finish at this year’s Tour de France. His climbing and time trial abilities make him an all-rounder, with stage victories at the Vuelta a Espana, Tour of California and Tour of Britain.

 

Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway) – Nordhaug returns to Team Sky after two years away. A founding member of the team in 2010, the Norwegian is an accomplished climber and his attacking style invariably sees him battling it out for victory at the end of races.

 

Wout Poels (Holland) – Set to be the first Dutchman to ride for Team Sky, Poels is another accomplished climber with experience of all three Grand Tours. He has taken stage victories at high-profile races including the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the Tour of Britain and Tour de Luxembourg during his six-year pro career.

 

Nicolas Roche (Republic of Ireland) – With 13 Grand Tour appearances to him name Roche has experience in abundance and will significantly add to Team Sky’s climbing powers. In 2013 he finished in fifth place at the Vuelta a Espana, this year he claimed victory in the Route du Sud and claimed a fifth place finish in the 2014 Tour of Britain.

 

Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford says of the signings: ‘We’ve signed five quality riders for next season and each one of them will help strengthen and enhance the squad. We’ve always set our standards high and been very ambitious with our goals. We want to win the biggest races and constantly improve as a team and these new riders have the proven experience and developing talent to perform now and in the future… We have a strong nucleus of riders at Team Sky and these signings will be excellent additions to the squad. They all bring their own qualities and we’re looking forward to welcoming them to the team and seeing them in action next season.”

 

More on Team Sky at teamsky.com

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HMT Launch Cycling Academy

HMT Launch Cycling Academy

HMT Launch Cycling AcademyThe Healthcare Management Trust – HMT – has announced the launch of its own cycling academy for aspiring professional cyclists. The creation of the team marks the turn toward a more public role in the world of cycling for HMT, the healthcare provider have played a significant behind the scenes role supporting riders from Rapha Condor – JLT, Haribo Beacon and Team Sportscover over recent seasons. The HMT Academy will consist of four riders who will compete in the British Cycling National Junior Series as well as several international junior single- and multi-stage races.

 

Continuing its relationship with Condor Cycles, the HMT Academy will share its colours and a number of suppliers with Condor’s new UCI registered team for 2015.

 

Completing the link with Condor, HMT also announced the continuation of their support for Condor’s professional road team with their role as official healthcare provider to the team for the 2015 season.

 

Tony Barrett, Chief Executive of HMT comments: ‘Cycling as an exercise and recreational pursuit has many benefits for health and is a great form of low impact exercise for all ages. Our long standing support of John Herety and his riders and now the HMT Academy provides an aspirational focus for diet, healthy weight maintenance and exercise, in particular for the young who we hope will follow the example of the elite athletes and establish the early habits of a good diet and regular exercise which will last a life time.’

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Wiggins Wins at Worlds

Wiggins

WigginsBradley Wiggins has won his first road world title at the World Championships in Ponferrada, beating three-time champion Tony Martin by just 26.23 seconds across the hilly 47.1k Spanish course. Wiggins finished second to Martin in 2011 and 2013 and commented afterwards, ‘Once I saw the course I realised if I was ever going to beat Tony again it was on a course like this.’

 

Overturning a deficit of four seconds at the opening intermediate split, a controlled ride saw Team Sky’s Wiggins gradually put time into his competition, extending his margin over a gruelling final climb to finish as a resounding winner. Holland’s Tom Dumoulin placed third.

 

In addition to his six world titles on the track, four Olympic golds, and a Tour de France victory, Wiggins is also a three-time national champion against the clock, as well as the national road race champion in 2011.
Commenting on a year that hasn’t always gone exactly to plan for him, Wiggins added: ‘It’s been an up-and-down year and I want to dedicate this to my family. My wife and children back home have always been there for me and had to put up with me. This was my last world time trial championships, so to finish it with a gold medal – I don’t know what to say.’

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Ben Swift Extends Contract with Sky

Ben Swift

Ben SwiftBen Swift has signed a new two-year contract with Team Sky, keeping him with the team until the end of 2016. The 26-year-old Yorkshireman has been a valued member of Team Sky since they began in 2010, achieving 11 victories and racing in five Grand Tours over his time with the team.

 

Swift made history when he secured the team’s first-ever stage race win at the 2010 Tour de Picardie, and WorldTour successes at the Tours of Romandie, Poland, Basque Country and Down Under have marked him out as one of the best sprinters in the sport. His third-placed finish at the 2014 Milan-San Remo also showcased his ability as a one-day rider and he will now look to continue that upward trajectory over the next two years.

 

Last month, team-mate and fellow Brit Geraint Thomas also signed a new two-year deal, committing the Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France winning team member to Team Sky until the end of the 2016 season.

 

Commenting on signing his new two-year deal, Ben Swift said: ‘I’ve been with Team Sky since the start and five years on it really does feel like home to me. To keep that relationship going was really important so I’m delighted to be staying for another two years. I already have one eye on next season and with this team I know I can deliver some good results.’

 

Details on Team Sky at TeamSky.com and follow Ben Swift in Twitter @swiftybswift

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Mike Steidley on EpicTV

Mike Steidley

Mike SteidleySome videos we just have to share… Directly after winning his 12th National Trials Championship Steidley returned to his home town of New Haven Connecticut, known as a playground for trials riders. The only problem being that the police and security guards were keeping a close watch over the best spots, making this shoot for EpicTV even tougher than it already looks. Steidley comments: ‘We had the police called more times than I can count on this shoot. Sometimes they will even make you wipe your memory card and that is horrid.’

 

In terms of training Steidley usually rides for two hours a day, five days a week, and spends another two days in the gym. He and his crew, including DP Alex Winter, captured this action on a Canon 5D, a custom DJI Phantom drone from AMP, an AEE action POV cam, a Kessler slider, and a 25-foot jib with a remote head.

 

Steidley’s accolades include multiple Trials National Championships, representing the USA in seven World Championships, a wide array of TV appearances and performing his Mountain Bike Stunt Show in 23 different countries. Cyclo interview with him coming soon…

 

More on Mike Steidley at mikesteidley.com and on the incredible EpicTV at epictv.com

 

Image © MattFrancisPhotos.com

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Jens Voigt Sets New Hour Record

Jens Voigt

Jens VoigtJens Voigt has set a new Hour Record of 51.11k in front of 1,600 fans at the Velodrome Suisse, beating Ondrej Sosenka’s record of 49.7k which has stood since 2005.

 

Voigt comments: ‘I started as usual too fast, but that is just me I can’t control myself, and I realized that I was a second faster on the first lap than on the timetable so I tried to pace myself a little. But I was in good shape, just right. I am perfectly fit for this moment, I am in very good shape, and after 20 minutes I had gained one lap but I was still feeling in control. Then from 20-40 minutes I had a comfortable lead and I paced myself and was still gaining a little time. Then in the last 20 I sped up a little and gained another lap. The last 10 minutes were flat out – all-in.’

 

In 2014 the UCI unified the two previous classifications (Athlete’s Hour and Best Human Effort) into a single classification in line with regulations for current track pursuit bikes and Voigt was the first attempt under the new ruling.

 

Photo credit: Ulf Schiller schillerphoto.com

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Dylan van Baarle Victorious at Tour of Britain

Dylan van Baarle

Dylan van BaarleGarmin-Sharp’s Dylan Van Baarle has won the 2014 Tour of Britain by a margin of just 10 seconds over second-placed Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider Michal Kwiatkowski and third-placed defending champion Bradley Wiggins (+22”.) Van Baarle took the leader’s yellow jersey on Saturday’s Stage 7, Camberley to Brighton, retaining his lead after Sunday morning’s Individual Time Trial – won in some style by Wiggins – and finishing safely within the peloton on the final 88.8k London circuit in which the mighty Marcel Kittel beat Mark Cavendish by the narrowest of margins.

 

The Tour of Britain proved an impressive win for Van Baarle, in his first year as a professional, with the 22-year-old Dutch rider commenting: ‘The team and the staff did an amazing job the whole week. We tried to go all in yesterday and it worked out! I’m so happy for myself and especially for the boys, they did an amazing job today!’

 

Further details on the Tour of Britain, including full results, at tourofbritain.co.uk

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Contador Wins Vuelta 2014

contador_vuelta_2014Alberto Contador has claimed victory at the Vuelta a Espana for the third time after previous wins in 2008 and 2012. The Spaniard had all but secured the win after Saturday’s penultimate stage when the Tinkoff-Saxo rider left nearest rival Chris Froome considerably adrift. Contador concluded the 2014 Vuelta in a time of 81hr 25’ 05”, with Froome on +1:10″ and third-placed Alejandro Valverde of Movistar on +1:50″. The win marks Contador’s sixth Grand Tour win.

 

An unusually modest Contador commented: ‘It’s a dream for me to win three Vueltas, I really was not expecting it.’ Tinkoff-Saxo’s DS, Steven De Jongh, added more expansively: ‘It’s simply as astonishing achievement by Alberto. Coming back from an injury like that after declaring himself out a couple of weeks before the Vuelta and not only rides well but takes the win, is just amazing. We entered the race hoping that we could get a stage win in the last week of the race but as the race progressed and Alberto felt stronger by the day, we had to change strategy and go for the overall classification.’