Matt Prior hopes ONE Pro Cycling will race Grand Tours as early as 2017
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 26/10/15 10:53am
Matt Prior hopes his ONE Pro Cycling team will be racing in Grand Tours as early as 2017.
The former England Test cricketer set up the British squad last autumn and, after spending their first season racing mainly in the UK on the third-tier UCI Continental Tour, they will step up to the second-tier UCI Pro Continental Tour in 2016.
The promotion will make them eligible for wildcard invites to the biggest races in the sport, including the three-week Grand Tours - Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana - one-day Classics such as Paris-Roubaix and week-long stage races such as Paris-Nice.
Prior doubts the team will be ready for the Grand Tours next season, but with another year of progression on and off the bike, he believes they could be in a position to apply for wildcards in 2017.
He told Sky Sports: "We want to be in Grand Tours very soon. We are not ready next year, but as early as 2017, we will be looking to step up again.
"It will take more success next year and the company going in the same direction, but the great thing about moving up to Pro Continental is that ONE Pro Cycling is now a global brand.
"We are looking at WorldTour events [in 2016], so we are going to be racing not only against Pro Continental teams, but WorldTour teams as well. It's going to be a huge learning curve, a steep learning curve, but it's a hugely exciting time for ONE Pro Cycling."
ONE Pro Cycling were initially left off the International Cycling Union's provisional list of applicants to race on the 2016 Pro Continental Tour due to an administrative error, but they have since been added and expect to receive their licence next month.
In preparation for the step up, they have increased their roster to 20 riders by making 12 new signings, including 2011 Milan-San Remo winner Matt Goss, fellow Australian sprinter Steele von Hoff and Denmark's Sebastian Lander.
Prior says the recruitment drive is as much about building a core of riders for a future move to the top-tier UCI WorldTour as it is gaining results in 2016.
He added: "Our roster for next year is based around young riders who have potential to go all the way, and it's up to us to harness that potential and give them the stepping stones.
"The real dream is, instead developing them and they move on, developing them and we move on together to the WorldTour and Grand Tours. How long that will take, I don't really know and I wouldn't want to put a time on that.
"We could be sat here this time next year with ONE Pro Cycling going to the WorldTour, or it might not happen. What is more important is progression and making sure that when we do make the decision to step up, it's sustainable and we step up for a while, not just in and out."
