2010 Team Sky season

The 2010 season for Team Sky, its first, began in January with the Tour Down Under. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited and obliged to attend every event in the ProTour. The team formed for the 2010 season as part of an initiative by British Cycling to produce the first ever British Tour de France winner within five years. Much of the team's ridership is British, most of it is anglophone, and the team competes under a British licence. Its manager is Dave Brailsford, the former Performance Director of British Cycling. Senior Director Sportif was Australian ex-professional road cyclist Scott Sunderland. Team Sky's other Sports Directors were former professional cyclists Marcus Ljungqvist from Sweden, the Briton Sean Yates, and Steven de Jongh from the Netherlands.

Team Sky
2010 season
The team at the 2010 Cancer Council Helpline Classic
UCI codeSKY
StatusUCI ProTeam
World Ranking15th (435 points)
ManagerDave Brailsford
Main sponsor(s)BSkyB
BasedUnited Kingdom
BicyclesPinarello
GroupsetShimano
Season victories
One-day races3
Stage race overall2
Stage race stages15
National Championships3
Most WinsGreg Henderson (5 wins)
Best ranked riderEdvald Boasson Hagen (17th)

2010 roster

Ages as of 1 January 2010.

Rider Date of birth
 Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR) (1976-02-09)9 February 1976 (aged 33)
 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) (1986-08-10)10 August 1986 (aged 23)
 Michael Barry (CAN) (1975-12-18)18 December 1975 (aged 34)
 Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) (1987-05-17)17 May 1987 (aged 22)
 Sylvain Calzati (FRA) (1979-12-26)26 December 1979 (aged 30)
 Kjell Carlström (FIN) (1976-10-18)18 October 1976 (aged 33)
 Dario Cioni (ITA) (1974-12-02)2 December 1974 (aged 35)
 Steve Cummings (GBR) (1981-03-19)19 March 1981 (aged 28)
 Russell Downing (GBR) (1978-08-23)23 August 1978 (aged 31)
 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) (1977-09-17)17 September 1977 (aged 32)
 Chris Froome (GBR) (1985-05-20)20 May 1985 (aged 24)
 Simon Gerrans (AUS) (1980-05-16)16 May 1980 (aged 29)
 Mathew Hayman (AUS) (1978-04-20)20 April 1978 (aged 31)
Rider Date of birth
 Greg Henderson (NZL) (1976-10-09)9 October 1976 (aged 33)
 Peter Kennaugh (GBR) (1989-06-15)15 June 1989 (aged 20)
 Thomas Lövkvist (SWE) (1984-04-04)4 April 1984 (aged 25)
 Lars Petter Nordhaug (NOR) (1984-05-14)14 May 1984 (aged 25)
 Serge Pauwels (BEL) (1983-11-21)21 November 1983 (aged 26)
 Nicolas Portal (FRA) (1979-04-23)23 April 1979 (aged 30)
 Morris Possoni (ITA) (1984-07-01)1 July 1984 (aged 25)
 Ian Stannard (GBR) (1987-05-25)25 May 1987 (aged 22)
 Christopher Sutton (AUS) (1984-09-10)10 September 1984 (aged 25)
 Ben Swift (GBR) (1987-11-05)5 November 1987 (aged 22)
 Geraint Thomas (GBR) (1986-05-25)25 May 1986 (aged 23)
 Davide Viganò (ITA) (1984-06-12)12 June 1984 (aged 25)
 Bradley Wiggins (GBR) (1980-04-28)28 April 1980 (aged 29)
Riders' 2009 teams

One-day races

Before the spring season began, the team took a victory in its first-ever race. Henderson was the team's captain for the Cancer Council Helpline Classic, a 51 km (32 mi) criterium run two days before the Tour Down Under with the same peloton, but not counting toward its standings. Team Sky was largely responsible for bringing back a breakaway that included Lance Armstrong and Óscar Pereiro, with Downing and Sutton leading Henderson out to the sprint win. Sutton finished the race in second place just behind Henderson.[1]

National championships

At the British National Road Race Championships Team Sky controlled the men's race ending with riders in the top three positions. Geraint Thomas won the race, Peter Kennaugh came second and Ian Stannard came third. In the British National Time Trial Championships again claimed the top three with Bradley Wiggins retaining his title. In Norway Edvald Boasson Hagen won his National Time Trial Championships for the fourth time.

Stage races
Greg Henderson and Chris Sutton warm up prior to the start of Stage 6 of the Tour Down Under

Henderson finished third overall in the Tour Down Under, after taking second place on stages 2 and 6 of the six-stage race. His teammate Sutton was the rider to beat him on the final stage.[2] The team won the team time trial stage which opened the Tour of Qatar, giving Boasson Hagen the race lead.[3] He lost it the next day, when attacks from Quick-Step and Cervélo TestTeam caught the team unaware and then, when the team had almost paced him back into the leading group, he suffered a puncture.[4]

Later in February, at the inaugural Tour of Oman, Boasson Hagen again took race leadership, with third in a sprint to finish the race's second stage.[5] He extended his lead with a victory in stage 3,[6] but lost it the next day in a controversial stage 4. After Team Sky, who were pacing the peloton as the team of the race leader, let a morning breakaway get over seven minutes on a flat course, emotions ran high when no team seemed willing to help them bring the group back. Sky riders responded by pulling the peloton quickly through the stage's feed zone, something which is normally not done. Later, Cervélo TestTeam attacked 56 km (35 mi) from the end of the stage, while Boasson Hagen had stopped to urinate at the side of the road, also something which is normally not done. Boasson Hagen lost a minute and five seconds on the stage, and the race leader's red jersey.[7] Boasson Hagen went on to win the stage 6 time trial to close the event, winning the points and youth classifications in the race and finishing second overall.[8]

Grand Tours
Bradley Wiggins riding to victory on Stage 1 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia

The first Grand Tour for Team Sky started out nicely with Bradley Wiggins winning the first stage. This put him into the Maglia Rosa, he would only wear it for one stage.[9]
Chris Froome was disqualified during stage 19 for holding onto a police motorbike.[10] The team had a few near misses with stage wins; Coming second in the team time trial by only 13 seconds to Liquigas–Doimo and Greg Henderson's second-place finish in Stage 13.

Tour de France

The team were awarded a wild-card entry for the 2010 Tour de France.[11] In stage 2 of the tour Geraint Thomas finished second on the stage putting him into the lead of the youth classification, he would retain this jersey until stage 7 where he lost 3 minutes on the overall leader.

Vuelta a España

Team Sky received an invite to participate in the 2010 Vuelta a España.[12]

During the race, many of the team's riders and staff contracted an unknown virus. John Lee Augustyn, Juan Antonio Flecha, and Ben Swift were forced to retire from the race due to illness.[13] Soigneur Txema Gonzalez died five days after being admitted to hospital due to an unrelated bacterial infection, with the team withdrawing from the race before the start of stage eight.[14]

Season victories
DateRaceCompetitionRiderCountryLocation
January 17[1]Cancer Council Helpline ClassicNone Greg Henderson (NZL) AustraliaRymill Park, Adelaide
January 24[2]Tour Down Under, Stage 6UCI ProTour Chris Sutton (AUS) AustraliaAdelaide
February 7[3]Tour of Qatar, Stage 1UCI Asia TourTeam time trial[N 1] QatarWest Bay Lagoon
February 16[6]Tour of Oman, Stage 3UCI Asia Tour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) OmanQurayyat
February 19[8]Tour of Oman, Stage 6UCI Asia Tour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) OmanMuscat
February 19[8]Tour of Oman, Points classificationUCI Asia Tour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) Oman
February 19[8]Tour of Oman, Young rider classificationUCI Asia Tour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) Oman
February 27[15]Omloop Het NieuwsbladUCI Europe Tour Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) BelgiumGhent
March 8[16]Paris–Nice, Stage 1UCI World Ranking Greg Henderson (NZL) FranceContres
March 16[17]Tirreno–Adriatico, Stage 7UCI World Ranking Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) ItalySan Benedetto del Tronto
March 28[18]Critérium International, Stage 2UCI Europe Tour Russell Downing (GBR) FrancePorto-Vecchio
May 8[19]Giro d'Italia, Stage 1UCI World Ranking Bradley Wiggins (GBR) NetherlandsAmsterdam
May 15[20]Tour de Picardie, Stage 2UCI Europe Tour Ben Swift (GBR) FranceCires-lès-Mello
May 16[21]Tour de Picardie, General classificationUCI Europe Tour Ben Swift (GBR) France
May 16[21]Tour de Picardie, Points classificationUCI Europe Tour Ben Swift (GBR) France
May 16[21]Tour de Picardie, Teams classificationUCI Europe Tour[N 2] France
May 16[21]Tour de Picardie, Young rider classificationUCI Europe Tour Ben Swift (GBR) France
June 13[22]Critérium du Dauphiné, Stage 7UCI ProTour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) FranceSallanches
June 18[23]Ster Elektrotoer, Stage 3UCI Europe Tour Greg Henderson (NZL) NetherlandsSchimmert
June 24[24]Norwegian National Time Trial ChampionshipsNational Championship Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) NorwayOrkanger
June 27[25]British National Road Race ChampionshipsNational Championship Geraint Thomas (GBR) United KingdomPendle
July 23[26]Brixia Tour, Stage 3UCI Europe Tour Chris Sutton (AUS) ItalyPisogne
July 28[27]Tour de Wallonie, Stage 5UCI Europe Tour Russell Downing (GBR) BelgiumWelkenraedt
July 28[27]Tour de Wallonie, General classificationUCI Europe Tour Russell Downing (GBR) Belgium
August 13[27]Dutch Food Valley ClassicUCI Europe Tour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) NetherlandsVeenendaal
August 21[27]Eneco Tour, Stage 4UCI ProTour Greg Henderson (NZL) NetherlandsRoermond
August 24Eneco Tour, Points classificationUCI ProTour Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) Belgium/ Netherlands
September 5British National Time Trial ChampionshipsNational Championship Bradley Wiggins (GBR) United KingdomLlandeilo
September 12Tour of Britain, Stage 2UCI Europe Tour Greg Henderson (NZL) United KingdomStoke-on-Trent
September 18Tour of Britain, Points classificationUCI Europe Tour Greg Henderson (NZL) Great Britain

Footnotes
  1. The riders on the squad were Kurt Asle Arvesen, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Russell Downing, Juan Antonio Flecha, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Ian Stannard, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins
  2. The riders on the squad were Ben Swift, Russell Downing, Davide Viganò, Juan Antonio Flecha, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Peter Kennaugh, Nicolas Portal and Geraint Thomas

References
  1. Les Clarke (17 January 2010). "Sky proves the goods with Henderson win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  2. Les Clarke and Greg Johnson (24 January 2010). "Sutton secures Sky's second". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  3. Stephen Farrand (7 February 2010). "Dominant start for Sky in Qatar team time trial". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  4. Stephen Farrand (8 February 2010). "Steurs strongest as breakaway rules the day". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  5. Cycling News (15 February 2010). "Bennati beats Farrar and Boasson Hagen in Samail". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  6. Cycling News (16 February 2010). "Boasson Hagen cruises to Oman win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  7. Stephen Farrand (17 February 2010). "Neo-pro Howard takes first pro victory". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 19 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  8. Stephen Farrand (19 February 2010). "Boasson Hagen blasts to time trial win". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  9. "Sky and the Giro d'Italia: The highs and lows since 2010". cyclingnews.com. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  10. "Froome disqualified from Giro d'Italia". cyclingweekly.com. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  11. "Tour de France wildcard place awarded to Team Sky". Cycling Weekly. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  12. Jonathan Turner (14 June 2010). "Vuelta invite for Team Sky". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  13. "Team Sky worker dies after contracting virus". France 24. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  14. "Sky withdrawn from Vuelta". Team Sky. British Sky Broadcasting. 4 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  15. John MacLeary (27 February 2010). "Team Sky's Juan Antonio Flecha ends wait with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory in Ghent". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  16. "Team Sky's Henderson wins as bunch splits in the wind". Cycling Weekly. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  17. Gregor Brown (16 March 2010). "Boasson Hagen takes Tirreno sprint, hoping for San Remo win". Cycling Weekly. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  18. "GB's Russell Downing secures Criterium sprint stage win". BBC Sport. 28 March 2010. Archived from the original on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  19. "Sky's Bradley Wiggins wins Giro d'Italia opening stage". BBC Sport. 8 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  20. Jonathan Turner (15 May 2010). "Swift stars for Team Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  21. Nigel Wynn (16 May 2010). "Swift wins Tour de Picardie overall". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  22. "Brajkovic wins Dauphine as Boasson Hagen impresses". BBC Sport. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  23. "Henderson and Downing give Team Sky a one-two in Holland". Cycling Weekly. 18 June 2010. Archived from the original on 23 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  24. "Time trial titles around the world". cyclingnews.com. 25 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  25. "Thomas edges out Kennaugh as Sky take 1-2-3 at national championships". Cycling Weekly. 27 June 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  26. "Sutton sprints to win in Brixia stage". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 23 July 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  27. Nigel Wynn (28 July 2010). "Downing wins Tour de Wallonie overall". Cycling Weekly. Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.

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