Team Sky has quickly become the one of the most annually successful squads on the WorldTour, with the British team gathering national excitement and international recognition.
Currently Team Sky is once again in a strong team position, sitting in 4th place overall in the UCI WorldTour Team Rankings with 5521 UCI points.
The Sky team has rode Pinarello bikes since their inaugural season in 2010 and use Shimano components. For the 2017, Team Sky began wearing Castelli brand kits, switching from their previous clothing provider Rapha. The Team Sky kits are primarily black, with sky blue accent and white Sky brand logos.
Team Sky began competing in 2010 under the name Sky Professional Cycling, and were immediately accepted into all three of the Grand Tour races. The team was originally established to put a British rider in the Maillot Jaune within five years of the teams inception, as well as develop the international prominence of British cycling. It took the Sky team less than three years to capture their first general classification title at the Tour de France, with Bradley Wiggins beating out Chris Froome for the Maillot Jaune. Not only was Team Sky able to achieve their goal of winning an overall Tour de France title with a British rider within five years, but the team was able to place Froome, another British rider, second in the general classification. Chris Froome was then able to capture three Tour de France titles in the next four years, topping the field in 2013, 2015, and 2016.
Chris Froome is still considered by many to be the rider to beat at the 2017 edition of the Tour de France after winning the past two editions, and three of the last four. Froome's 2017 season so far has not yet matched his outstanding performances 2016 however. In 2016, Froome took the general classification title at the Criterium du Dauphine, and was able to capture victories in both the general classification and mountains classification at the Herald Sun Tour. In 2017 though, Froome was only able to claim 4th place in the general classification at the Criterium du Dauphine, and finish 6th overall at the Herald Sun Tour. Additionally, Froome fell short at both the Tour de Romandie and Volta a Catalunya as well this season, finishing 18th and 30th overall, respectively. While these finishes are by no means failing results in the grand scheme of professional cycling, Froome will continue to be held to a higher standard as a result of his historic dominance, especially at the Tour de France.
Sergio Henao and Geraint Thomas could also prove to be an important pair for Team Sky in the two remaining Grand Tour races of 2017. Henao joined Team Sky in 2012 and has become an increasingly important rider for the team. Henao's early season form in 2017 has been sharp, having won Paris-Nice in March, as well as recently capturing the Columbian National Road Race title.Last season, Henao finished 12th in the general classification at the Tour de France.
Geraint Thomas is a Team Sky veteran and has shown his worth as an important all-rounder for the squad. Thomas captured the general classification title at the Tour of the Alps earlier this year in April, and finished 5th overall at Tirreno-Adriatico. Michal Kwiatkowski will also be a rider to look out for at this year's Tour de France after the Polish rider won the first Monument of his career at this year's Milan-San Remo.
Team Sky's announced 2017 Tour de France squad will include Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Michal Kwiatkowski, Sergio Henao, Mikel Nieve, Mikel Landa, Vasil Kiryienka, Luke Rowe, and Christian Knees.
The complete list of riders for Team Sky includes:
Riders
BOSWELL Ian | 07.02.1991 | USA | |
DEIGNAN Philip | 07.09.1983 | IRL | |
ELISSONDE Kenny | 22.07.1991 | FRA | |
FROOME Chris | 20.05.1985 | GBR | |
GOLAS Michal | 29.04.1984 | POL | |
HENAO GOMEZ Sebastian | 05.08.1993 | COL | |
HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis | 10.12.1987 | COL | |
INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Beñat | 20.03.1986 | ESP | |
KENNAUGH Peter | 15.06.1989 | GBR | |
KIRYIENKA Vasil | 28.06.1981 | BLR | |
KNEES Christian | 05.03.1981 | GER | |
KWIATKOWSKI Michal | 02.06.1990 | POL | |
LANDA MEANA Mikel | 13.12.1989 | ESP | |
LOPEZ GARCIA David | 13.05.1981 | ESP | |
NIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel | 26.05.1984 | ESP | |
POELS Wout | 01.10.1987 | NED | |
PUCCIO Salvatore | 31.08.1989 | ITA | |
ROSA Diego | 27.03.1989 | ITA | |
ROWE Luke | 10.03.1990 | GBR | |
STANNARD Ian | 25.05.1987 | GBR | |
THOMAS Geraint | 25.05.1986 | GBR | |
VAN POPPEL Danny | 26.07.1993 | NED | |
VIVIANI Elia | 07.02.1989 | ITA | |
WISNIOWSKI Lukasz | 07.12.1991 | POL |
Neos-Pros
DIBBEN Jonathan | 12.02.1994 | GBR | |
DOULL Owain | 02.05.1993 | GBR | |
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao | 30.03.1995 | GBR | |
MOSCON Gianni | 20.04.1994 | ITA |
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