Team Sky today announced three more riders for the new professional road cycling team; Sylvain Calzati, Nicolas Portal and Mathew Hayman.
A total of 22 riders have now been announced by the team, which will make its first appearance at the Santos Tour Down Under in January 2010.
Announcing the riders, Team Principal Dave Brailsford said; “We want to be able to compete at the highest level from the beginning of the year and with these new signings we have added significantly to our ability to do that. These new signings underline our international profile and our striving ambition to put together an excellent high-performance group of athletes who will be able to put Team Sky on the map in the new season.
He continued; “It’s a great pleasure for us to have Sylvain and Nicolas onboard as our first two French riders. They are both experienced pros with a lot of good results on their CVs and they are both really versatile, all-round riders. Mathew has made his mark at the Classics, is a great team player and a solid performer throughout the year.”
The new signings are:
SYLVAIN CALZATI - 30-year old Calzati was racing this season with Agritubel and got his breakthrough three years ago by winning the 8th stage of the 2006 Tour de France. Prior to that he won the prestigious Tour de L’Avenir in 2004.
NICOLAS PORTAL - Portal Has been with the Spanish team Caisse d’Epargne for the last four seasons and took his first pro victory at the 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. The 30-year old Frenchman has participated in the Tour de France six times in his eight years as a pro.
MATHEW HAYMAN - The Australian rider finished his ninth season as a pro this year where he once again made his mark at the one day classics finishing a strong 4th in Gent-Wevelgem. The 31-year old rider from New South Wales has been with Rabobank since he turned pro in 2000. In 2006, he was the Commonwealth Road Race Champion.
Team Sky will likely add three more riders to bring the total to 25. Rumors are still circulating that the new British team is still trying to sign Tour de France revelation Bradley Wiggins away from the American Garmin-Slipstream team. Wiggins is under contract with the team for 2010, so if this were to happen, Sky would have to work a deal with Jonathan Vaughters' team.
The Team Sky riders announced to date are Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings, Pete Kennaugh, Chris Froome, Ian Stannard, Russell Downing, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Thomas Löfkvist, Kurt Arvesen, Simon Gerrans, Juan Antonio Flecha, Kjell Carlstrom, John Lee Augustyn, Greg Henderson, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Morris Possoni, Michael Barry, Serge Pauwels, Chris Sutton, Sylvain Calzati, Nicolas Portal and Mathew Hayman.