Christmas Comes Early In Britain, Wiggins to Team Sky
After a brilliant 2009 Tour campaign, one which landed him in fourth overall at the end of three weeks, the speculation as to if and when Bradley Wiggins would depart for the newly formed British Team Sky began in earnest. And despite a sarcastic August denial of the rumored courtship through his Twitter account, "Cyclingnews love a good old stir, So there is a chance that I may go to Sky if he's available says Cyclingnews who seem to know everything," Wiggins and Team Sky have finally made it official. The three time Olympic and current British National Time Trial Champion has signed a four-year pact to head up the first year squad that seems hell bent on taking on the professional peloton at the biggest races in 2010.
"It has been an amazing year for me and my ride at the Tour has given me the drive to aim even higher. I know I can continue to develop and Team Sky is the perfect place to make that happen," said Wiggins.
As for his former team, which seemed to be taken somewhat off-guard with the announcement, they will ironically undergo a few transitions in 2010 and look to their 2008 Tour de France fourth placed finisher, Christian Vande Velde, for leadership in the Grand Boucle.
A disappointed Team Garmin-Transitions released the following statement this morning.
Bradley Wiggins will not be racing for Team Garmin-Transitions in 2010. Although we understand his strong desire to be a part of the UK’s first-ever Pro Tour team, we would have loved to continue with him through 2010. His departure is not the outcome we hoped for. That said, Team Garmin-Transitions has an incredible group of riders assembled for the season. As always, we have worked hard to build a team that will be competitive throughout the year. The team features Christian Vande Velde who was 8th overall in the 2009 Tour after significant injuries; including five broken vertebrae; sprint sensation Tyler Farrar, David Zabriskie, David Millar, Dan Martin and other outstanding athletes that we’re fortunate to work with. In addition to the great new talent we have signed including Johan Van Summeren and Jack Bobridge, we have renewed our partnership with Garmin and added Transitions and POM Wonderful to our family of sponsors. And we’ve expanded our sports science program to include some of the best sports scientists in the world. We will continue to give our fans many reasons to cheer in 2010 and we look forward to exciting racing in the months to come.
In any regard, Christmas seems to have arrived early in Britain this year (while the boys in Boulder try to clear the coal dust from their shoes). God Save the Queen!
MORE:
Sky Sports - Wiggins signs for Team Sky
CNN International - Wiggins joins new British cycling team
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