Team Sky have confirmed the 28 riders that will make up the squad for the 2012 season.
Cavendish and Wiggins look to build on success
Team Sky have confirmed the 28 riders that will make up the squad for the 2012 season.
Featuring world-class talents from 12 nations, and including ten British riders, the 2012 squad also sees eight new additions to the team.
As well as world champion Mark Cavendish, Team Sky have welcomed former HTC-Highroad team-mates Bernhard Eisel, Danny Pate and Kanstantsin Siutsou, neo-pros Salvatore Puccio and Luke Rowe, Sergio Henao, and former Giro d'Italia pink jersey holder Richie Porte.
Team Sky's 28-man roster for 2012:
Davide Appollonio (ITA), Michael Barry (CAN), Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR), Mark Cavendish (GBR), Alex Dowsett (GBR), Bernhard Eisel (AUT), Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP), Chris Froome (GBR), Mathew Hayman (AUS), Sergio Henao (COL), Jeremy Hunt (GBR), Peter Kennaugh (GBR), Christian Knees (GER), Thomas Löfkvist (SWE), Lars-Petter Nordhaug (NOR), Danny Pate (USA), Richie Porte (AUS), Salvatore Puccio (ITA), Michael Rogers (AUS), Luke Rowe (GBR), Ian Stannard (GBR), Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR), Chris Sutton (AUS), Ben Swift (GBR), Geraint Thomas (GBR), Rigoberto Urán (COL), Bradley Wiggins (GBR) and Xabier Zandio (ESP)
Team Sky will be aiming to build on a hugely successful 2011 campaign which saw them finish second in the UCI WorldTour team rankings with 32 wins and a further 71 podium finishes.
Those results included Edvald Boasson Hagen's two stage-winning displays at the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins' Criterium du Dauphine success, and a remarkable Vuelta a Espana campaign which saw Chris Froome and Wiggins both secure places on the Grand Tour's podium.
Strong foundations
Dave Brailsford, Team Sky Principal, said: "With Mark Cavendish joining riders like Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Edvald Boasson Hagen, we have a hugely talented squad of riders with proven ability at the very highest level of our sport.
"We made great strides in 2011, in what was our second season as a WorldTour team. The challenge for all of us is to build on those achievements and become an even stronger and more successful team.
"The next ten months will be a huge, but exceptionally exciting challenge. We will be looking to compete on every day of every race and continue the momentum the team has created in 2011. These are exciting times for Team Sky and we can't wait for the season to start."
Boom time
Cavendish himself can't wait for the new campaign to get under way, saying: "I could not be more excited about the coming season. In many ways it has felt like coming home, by joining Team Sky. I've grown up with many of the riders and management and they have shown in just two years how far they have come. It is a hugely professional set up and arguably the strongest team in the world. It is definitely a team that will win races.
"Being in a British team at a time when our sport is booming is a dream come true. I want to help continue that growth and I know that together as a team we can help inspire even more people to get on their bikes and have a go themselves."
And fellow Brit Wiggins echoed that view as he added: "We have a fantastic looking squad for 2012 and I think we are in great shape to build on our successes last year. The support we continue to receive from fans around the world, and especially in the UK, is tremendous and we are going to be looking to repay that on the road this year.
"If there is one thing this team is known for already it's that we have ambition. With Mark Cavendish joining the team we are ready to target sprints and GC in the same race and that is hugely exciting. There is nothing we like more than someone saying it can't be done!"
