Team Sky are delighted to announce that Sergio Henao will be joining the squad for the 2012 season.
Colombian talent will boost climbing options
Team Sky are delighted to announce that Sergio Henao will be joining the squad for the 2012 season.
The 23-year-old hails from the mountainous Antioquia region of Colombia and is regarded as one of South America’s hottest climbing talents.
As a junior he won a whole host of high-profile competitions and his step up to the senior ranks last year proved a seamless one with him triumphing in the notoriously difficult Vuelta a Colombia.
Henao has gone from strength to strength during the 2011 campaign and he is currently leading the Tour of Utah after his victory in the prologue.
Team Principal Dave Brailsford is pleased to have secured Henao on a two-year deal, and said: “We identified Sergio as a real talent some time ago and have been watching his development closely during the last two years.
“His performance in Utah this week confirms our belief that he is one of the World’s biggest climbing talents and has a very bright future ahead of him.
“We are absolutely delighted to have him on board and are really looking forward to guiding and developing such a great talent.”
Raring to go
Henao said: “The Team Principal called to tell me that he wanted to hire me for two seasons and I am very happy to have signed this contract because Team Sky are such a big team.
"This is the first professional team I have ridden for and the first professional contract I have signed. They had space for a rider who could do well one-day and stage races, and they found these things in me.
“I have raced a few times in Europe before, I rode the Vuelta Madrid in 2008, and now I can’t wait to move over here again permanently.”
Henao is the second Colombian on the Team Sky roster and joins up with Rigoberto Urán, who has enjoyed a fantastic first season with the team.
