Swift seals landmark win

Ben Swift has given Team Sky their first overall victory by winning the Tour de Picardie in northern France.

First overall win for young Briton and Team Sky

Ben Swift has given Team Sky their first overall victory by winning the Tour de Picardie in northern France. The 22-year-old from Rotherham was the dominant rider in the three-day race, finishing a close-up second on stage one, landing the spoils on stage two and then safely finishing in the front group on the final day to wrap up the general classification. Swift was ninth behind Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun) on the final stage, a 174.5km route from Crépy en Valois to Sissonne, as Team Sky made sure they controlled the race to protect the yellow jersey. It meant he finished seven seconds ahead of Koldo Fernandez (Euskaltel) on the overall standings, with main threat Allan Davis (Astana) a further three seconds back in third while Swift's teammate Russell Downing took fourth. It's the first general classification victory of Swift's career and is also a landmark for Team Sky, with Edvald Boasson Hagen's second place at the Tour of Oman the closest they had previously come in their debut season. To round off a memorable few days for Swift he also collected both the points classification and the young riders' jersey. Speaking to www.teamsky.com, Swift was quick to pay tribute to his teammates, saying: "They did an awesome job again to control the race right from the word go, they looked after me the whole day. It was perfect and without them I'd have been nowhere. "I was in a strong position but we needed to keep an eye on the bonus seconds. With Allan Davis not picking up anything there, all I needed to do then was finish inside the top 20."

First of many

And he admitted it was a special moment for both himself and the team as a whole, adding: "It's the first GC for me and the first for the team so hopefully now we can pick up a few more." Sports Director Steven de Jongh was understandably delighted afterwards and echoed Swift's reaction when he told the team's website: "We stuck together throughout and it was brilliant teamwork. "This morning it looked really good as Davis had to take bonus seconds and win the stage. And once he didn't get those bonus seconds it meant Ben had to finish outside the top 20. But with the form he's been in - and backed up by the team - that was always unlikely. "The guys were all really happy after the finish as you'd expect and a first GC win for Team Sky is something special." Stage three result: 1 - Jimmy Casper - (FRA) - Saur-Sojasun - (4:02:06)
2 - Koldo Fernández - (ESP) - Euskaltel - (same time)
3 - Danilo Napolitano - (ITA) - Katyusha - (same time)
4 - Lloyd Mondory - (FRA) - AG2R - (same time)
5 - José Joaquín Rojas - (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (same time)
6 - Kenny van Hummel - (NED) - Skil-Shimano - (same time)
7 - David Boucher - (FRA) - Landbouwkrediet - (same time)
8 - Allan Davis - (AUS) - Astana - (same time)
9 - Ben Swift - (ENG) - Team Sky - (same time)
10 - Arnaud Coyot - (FRA) - Caisse d'Epargne - (same time)
Final standings: 1 - Ben Swift - (ENG) - Team Sky - (12:26:25)
2 - Koldo Fernández - (ESP) - Euskaltel - (+7)
3 - Allan Davis - (AUS) - Astana - (+10)
4 - Russell Downing - (ENG) - Team Sky - (+12)
5 - Michael Van Staeyen - (BEL) - Topsport Vlaanderen - (+16)
6 - Borut Bo¿ic - (SLO) - Vacansoleil - (+16)
7 - Alexandre Pichot - (FRA) - Bbox-Bouygues - (+16)
8 - Steven Van Vooren - (BEL) - Topsport Vlaanderen - (+19)
9 - Mikhail Khalilov - (UKR) - Katyusha - (+20)
10 - Jimmy Casper - (FRA) - Saur-Sojasun - (+21)