Sky hail 'dream' debut

12 comments
By AFP | Monday, Jan 18, 2010 10.09am

Team Sky on Monday hailed a "dream" debut on the professional cycling tour as they aim to produce Britain's first ever Tour de France winner.

Team manager Sean Yates said the one-two finish in Sunday's street race in Adelaide, a 51-kilometre (32 mile) Tour Down Under prelude, endorsed the big-budget outfit's stringent preparations.

"It's a dream start. Obviously we don't want to get carried away. Yesterday was yesterday, it was a 50-kilometre criterium, we had a plan and we did what we did to win it," he told AFP. "Tomorrow will be another day, a different scenario, a different type of race. We know it won't be the same. We'll try again to work as a unit and do the best we can.

"Yesterday the best we could do won us the race, tomorrow it might not. The day after it might not, Tour de France it might not. But you can't do better than to give it 100 percent."

Sky's riders reeled in American legend Lance Armstrong and fellow Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro with three laps to go before outstripping HSC-Columbia's sprint specialist Andre Greipel on the home straight.

New Zealand's Greg Henderson took the win followed by Australian team-mate Chris Sutton, with Germany's Greipel third and Armstrong halfway down the field.

The team, backed by broadcaster Sky TV, have built on Britain's track success at Beijing 2008 to create a talented roster headed by triple Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins, who was fourth in last year's Tour de France.

Yates said it was too early to know whether Sky would be in a position to challenge for this year's French race, the blue-riband event of the cycling calendar.

"We've got Bradley Wiggins in the team and last year he got fourth place so in theory we should be able to repeat that if not better," Yates said.

"But theory's one thing, reality's another. The aim is for our riders to give it what they've got and if that's not good enough to win us the race, there's nothing we can do."

Related articles

Related links

BikeRadar is not responsible for the content of external websites

The six-stage Tour Down Under, the southern hemisphere's biggest race which attracts hundreds of thousands of fans, starts on Tuesday in hills around Adelaide.

© AFP 2010

For full resullts, report and photos, visit Cyclingnews.com.

You can follow BikeRadar on Twitter at twitter.com/bikeradar.

You might also like...

User Comments

There are 12 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 12 of 12 comments

  • Congratulations to Greg, Chris and Team Sky on the TDU prelude Cancer Classic 1-2! What a tremendous debut for this new team. And didn't DS Sean Yates do well too! His down to earth comments are a breath of fresh air and show a realism rarely evident or acknowledged in (British) sporting circles. It's good to see that, despite all the hype, everyone's feet at Team Sky are still on the ground. Bodes very well for the new season. Good luck, boys!

  • Great show!

  • take it cavendish wasnt racing as he is the "sprint specialist" for columbia or he would have wipped the floor with team sky

  • Only if he was led out properly

  • Good Job team Sky!

  • You know what's great about this news? ......

    That Team Sky are all about the team, and not one egotistical leader, and the breath of fresh air that their approach has brougt to cycling already. I for one am totally bored by the antics of some of the so called "stars" of pro cycling and am glad to at last be able to applaude a team who are clearly focussed on cycling and simply doing the best they can to win, ... by concentrating on cycling!

    It may not be possible to win the Tour this year, but with their motto of "marginal gain" I shall enjoy watching their progress over the coming year(s). Watching cycllng can once again be a pleasnt experience, with this team doing their British best. I wish them the very best of luck. This team is just what the sport needs, and I actually believe we may be seeing the dawn of a new (sporting) era for cycling. Well done Sky, for gettihng involved! (I don't have a Sky subscription, by the way. Just a love of good, honest cycling!)

  • Good showing for Sky, though not sure if it would have been the same result if Cavendish or Ferrar had been there.

  • perhaps the sky boys might give the manx motormouth some competion , could be a interesting season !

  • The Columbia train burnt a bit too quickly and brightly to deliver Greipel to the line, but Henderson's wheel would suffice as leadout for Cavendish :p

  • Sky is the "limit"!!!

  • Son of Thunder now should follow the Sky train and roll Cavendish by blasting past him early!!!

  • Question:

    Is TV coverage of TdF gonna stay with ITV4 freeview or are Sky gonna take over?

    Please dont make me buy Sky subscription!

Post a Comment:

You need to login or register to post comments.