Cycling: The British team Sky had an extremely successful 2015 season and is preparing to top this in 2016. Prominent newcomers and very good technical prerequisites could lead Dave Brailsford's racing team to the very top this year.
Team Sky overview
After the epidemic year of 2014, the British team Sky found its way back to its usual path of success in 2015. Of course, the season was outshined by Chris Froome's tour victory, but it was a successful season almost without exception with a total of 41 victories and in the end third place in the WorldTour team ranking. For 2016, the company has also been properly upgraded and is preparing to saw the throne of Movistar.
The one from this season for BMC riders Richie Porte caused jubilation on Sky early in the 2015 season: first he took gold in the time trial at the Australian Championships and followed that up with the overall victory at Paris-Nice eight weeks later. In the classics, the Sky team presented itself almost traditionally reserved, even if Geraint Thomas triumphed at the E3 Harelbeke and Ian Stannard at the Omloop-Het Nieuwsblad made the competition from Etixx – Quick-Step look pretty old in the final.
The first big highlight of the season - the Giro d'Italia - turned out to be a disaster for Sky, especially for captain Richie Porte. The Australian was already ailing at the start and kept struggling with injuries received a controversial time penalty and gave up before the third week unnerves and debilitates the towel. The 30-year-old has always had the reputation of not being a rider for the three-week tours – is the Giro 2015 further proof of this? His critics would certainly see it that way. Two stage wins in the person of Elia Viviani and Vasil Kiryienka were just a small consolation for the British team, who had been spoiled by success.
As disappointing as the Giro was for Sky, the big goal of the season, the Tour de France, was also dominated Dauphiné winner Chris Froome, Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas. Despite the Brit's impressive form, Froome's overall victory was also a team success, because Thomas and Porte in particular worked tirelessly and tirelessly for their captain and were the secret stars of this year's Grand Boucle. doping allegations – including urine cup throws – discussions about the person Froome and allegations of inadequate information policy on the part of the team could only slightly spoil the joy of the 30-year-old's second tour victory.
At the Vuelta, the hardships of the tour were noticeable to the team and the Stage victory by Nicolas Roche in Riaza remained the only success in the Tour of Spain. The big highlight of the last third of the season came as a surprise in Richmond, where the Belarusian Vasil Kiryienka outperformed all the favorites in the individual time trial and secured the gold medal. Although the 34-year-old had shone in the past with very good performances in time trials, only a few experts had him on the list in Richmond. Understandably, the joy was all the greater.
What can we and Team Sky expect in 2016? With Richie Porte you lose an enormously important rider who, despite a disappointing Giro, was an elementary building block for Froome's Tour victory - in 2015 as well as in 2012. The two were a perfectly coordinated team and seemed to understand each other blindly during the race. The Australian who migrated to BMC should be difficult to replace. However, one or the other might rub their eyes in amazement when looking at the newcomers for 2016: With Michal Kwiatkowski, Mikel Landa and Benat Intxausti, three more absolute top drivers could be signed.
However, the enormously high power density among the drivers could also become a problem for Sky. With Froome, Thomas, Kwiatkowski, Landa and also Leopold König you have several very strong drivers in your ranks who will all have their claims in terms of their position within the team - it wouldn't be too surprising if there were disappointments here as the season progressed and there may be tension.
Team Sky Transfers
Departures: Nathan Earle (Drapac Professional Cycling), Danny Pate (Optum Pro Cycling), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Dimension Data), Richie Porte (BMC), Chris Sutton (unknown), Bernhard Eisel (Dimension Data), Bradley Wiggins (Team Wiggins)
Additions: Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing), Mikel Landa (Astana), Michal Golas (Etixx-QuickStep), Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep), Benat Intxausti (Movistar), Gianni Moscon (unknown)
Team Sky – team bikes and equipment
team bike: Ever since it was founded in 2010, the British Sky team has been using wheels made by the Italian manufacturer Pinarello and this will not change in 2016 either. The Dogma F8 carried the majority of the team's victories in 2015 - little reason to change anything here and so there are only upgrades of a cosmetic nature for the coming season. What was really exciting last season was the presentation of the Dogma K8-S, an endurance model with elastomer suspension, which was used by the team in the Tour of Flanders and will certainly be the first choice again in 2016 on the pavees of Belgium and France. The Pinarello Bolide time trial bike also remains technically unchanged – after all, Vasil Kiryienka rode the futuristic bike to the world time trial title in Richmond.
components: Everything stays the same, also with the components and the drive of the Sky team bikes. The British team still relies on Japanese know-how from Shimano, which provides both the drive and the wheels. The attachments come from the Shimano subsidiary PRO.
disc brakes: Hardly any other team can look at the subject of disc brakes as relaxed as Team Sky. Wheel outfitter Pinarello recently presented the Dogma F8 Disk, a disc brake version of its top road bike, and it should only be a matter of time for the K8-S endurance model. With Shimano as a component supplier, Froome and Co. have access to the latest material in the field of road disc brakes anyway.
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