2015 Team Sky season

Last updated

Team Sky
2015 season
Sky team - 1st stage Tour of Slovenia 2015.jpg
Salvatore Puccio on time trial stage Tour of Slovenia 2015
UCI codeSKY
Status UCI ProTeam
World Tour Rank 3rd (1378 points)
Manager Dave Brailsford
Main sponsor(s) Sky
Based National Cycling Centre
Manchester
England
Bicycles Pinarello
Groupset Shimano
Season victories
One-day races 3
Stage race overall7
Stage race stages28
Grand Tours 1
World Championships 1
National Championships 3
Most Wins Elia Viviani (8 wins)
Best ranked rider Chris Froome (6th)
  2014
2016  

The 2015 season for Team Sky began in January at the Tour Down Under.

Contents

As a UCI WorldTeam, they were automatically invited and obliged to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.

Team roster

As of 19 August 2015
RiderDate of birth
Flag of the United States.svg  Ian Boswell  (USA) (1991-02-07)7 February 1991 (aged 24)
Flag of Ireland.svg  Philip Deignan  (IRL) (1983-09-07)7 September 1983 (aged 31)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Nathan Earle  (AUS) (1988-06-04)4 June 1988 (aged 27)
Flag of Austria.svg  Bernhard Eisel  (AUT) (1981-02-17)17 February 1981 (aged 34)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Andrew Fenn  (GBR) (1990-07-01)1 July 1990 (aged 25)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR) (1985-05-20)20 May 1985 (aged 30)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Tao Geoghegan Hart [N 1]  (GBR) (1995-03-30)30 March 1995 (aged 20)
Flag of Colombia.svg  Sebastián Henao  (COL) (1993-08-05)5 August 1993 (aged 22)
Flag of Colombia.svg  Sergio Henao  (COL) (1987-12-10)10 December 1987 (aged 27)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Peter Kennaugh  (GBR) (1989-06-15)15 June 1989 (aged 26)
Flag of Belarus.svg  Vasil Kiryienka  (BLR) (1981-06-28)28 June 1981 (aged 34)
Flag of Germany.svg  Christian Knees  (GER) (1981-03-05)5 March 1981 (aged 34)
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Leopold König  (CZE) (1987-11-15)15 November 1987 (aged 27)
Flag of Spain.svg  David López  (ESP) (1981-05-13)13 May 1981 (aged 34)
Flag of Spain.svg  Mikel Nieve  (ESP) (1984-05-26)26 May 1984 (aged 31)
Flag of Norway.svg  Lars Petter Nordhaug  (NOR) (1984-05-14)14 May 1984 (aged 31)
RiderDate of birth
Flag of the United States.svg  Danny Pate  (USA) (1979-03-23)23 March 1979 (aged 36)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Alex Peters [N 2]  (GBR) (1994-03-31)31 March 1994 (aged 21)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Wout Poels  (NED) (1987-10-01)1 October 1987 (aged 27)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS) (1985-01-30)30 January 1985 (aged 30)
Flag of Italy.svg  Salvatore Puccio  (ITA) (1989-08-31)31 August 1989 (aged 25)
Flag of Ireland.svg  Nicolas Roche  (IRL) (1984-07-03)3 July 1984 (aged 31)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Luke Rowe  (GBR) (1990-03-10)10 March 1990 (aged 25)
Flag of Belarus.svg  Kanstantsin Sivtsov  (BLR) (1982-08-09)9 August 1982 (aged 32)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Ian Stannard  (GBR) (1987-05-25)25 May 1987 (aged 28)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Chris Sutton  (AUS) (1984-09-10)10 September 1984 (aged 30)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Ben Swift  (GBR) (1987-11-05)5 November 1987 (aged 27)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Geraint Thomas  (GBR) (1986-05-25)25 May 1986 (aged 29)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Bradley Wiggins [N 3]  (GBR) (1980-04-28)28 April 1980 (aged 35)
Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA) (1989-02-07)7 February 1989 (aged 26)
Flag of Spain.svg  Xabier Zandio  (ESP) (1977-03-17)17 March 1977 (aged 38)
  1. Geoghegan Hart joined the team on 1 August as a stagiaire, from Axeon Cycling Team
  2. Peters joined the team on 1 August as a stagiaire, from SEG Racing
  3. Wiggins left the team to join the new WIGGINS squad after the 2015 Paris–Roubaix in April.

Season overview

Thomas on the podium at E3 Harelbeke Harelbeke - E3 Harelbeke, 27 maart 2015 (G12).JPG
Thomas on the podium at E3 Harelbeke

On 8 January, Richie Porte scored the team's first victory of the season by winning the Australian National Time Trial championships with a margin of eight seconds [10] and went on to record the team's first stage win at the Tour Down Under. Elia Viviani scored his first win for the team, taking sprint victory on stage two of the Dubai Tour.

In August, the team signed Alex Peters and Tao Geoghegan Hart for the remainder of the season, with the former also signing for two years. [11]

Grand Tours

Giro d'Italia

The team entered the 2015 Giro d'Italia with Porte installed as team leader in the hope that he would continue his good run in stage races and claim the Maglia Rosa. In order to do this and in the team's quest for 'marginal gains' Porte slept in a motorhome which followed the race, rather than hotels like the rest of the team. [12] After limiting the time loss in the stage 1 team time trial Elia Viviani secured the first win for the team in a Grand Tour since the 2013 Vuelta a España on stage 2, also taking over the Maglia rossa. [13] After enjoying a successful first week Porte entered the second week of racing in third position overall, however on stage 10 an untimely puncture (outside of the 3 km ruling) caused him to lose 47 seconds to overall race leader, Alberto Contador. [14] Porte was left isolated due to the puncture and accepted a wheel swap with Team Jayco–AlUla and close friend Simon Clarke, contravening UCI rule 12.1.040, which prohibits "non-regulation assistance to a rider from another team". [15] Porte and Clarke were subsequently docked two minutes each and faced a 200 Swiss Franc fine. [15] This resulted in Porte dropping down to 12th on the general classification, three minutes and nine seconds behind Contador. [16] The implementation of the penalty caused outcry on social media; David Millar praised the sportsmanship shown between the two riders [17] as well as Jonathan Vaughters, Chris Horner, Chris Boardman and Tom Domoulin. [18] Team Principal, Dave Brailsford criticised the decision, saying that the "spirit of the law" had not been recognised [19] and that there was a lack of common sense. [20] Giro d'Italia race director Mauro Vegni claimed the rule had to be enforced [21] whilst UCI President Brian Cookson agreed that it was the correct decision. [22] Porte then lost further time on the uphill finish at Monte Berico on stage 12 [23] and a further two minutes on stage 13 after being caught behind a crash, [24] leaving him in 17th spot, five minutes and five seconds behind new overall leader, Fabio Aru. [25] Stage 14 saw the riders tackle the 59.4 km time trial from Treviso to Valdobbiadene, where Vasil Kiryienka claimed the stage win, whilst Porte conceded a further four minutes and six seconds to Contador, leaving him in 17th position, eight minutes and 52 seconds behind the race leader. [26] On the next stage Porte lost a further 27 minutes and abandoned on the second rest day, [27] team leadership being handed over to Leopold König. [28] König would finish the Giro in sixth position, over ten minutes behind victor, Alberto Contador.

Tour de France

Froome in the leaders jersey on stage thirteen of the 2015 Tour de France Chris Froome, TDF 2015, etape 13, Montgiscard.jpg
Froome in the leaders jersey on stage thirteen of the 2015 Tour de France

The team went into the 2015 Tour de France with their "strongest team ever" [29] seeking to improve on their poor 2014 edition of the race. The team entered with Froome leading the title challenge, along with Poels, König, Kennaugh, Porte and Roche for the hillier stages as well as Stannard, Rowe and Thomas for the flatter days, in particular stage 4 from Seraing to Cambrai which featured no less than seven cobbled sectors. [30] After a strong performance on the Mur de Huy Froome took over the race lead, and general classification by one second over Tony Martin. The previous time he had held the yellow jersey he won the race. [31] Froome refused to wear the yellow jersey after Tony Martin abandoned the race due to a broken collar bone sustained on stage six. [32] Froome then received the yellow jersey at the end of the seventh stage by virtue of being in second place overall. During the evening of the first rest day of the Tour, it emerged that some of Froome's data files had been hacked and released onto the internet. [33] As the Tour entered the second week of racing stage 10 saw the first mountains stage, the summit finish of La Pierre-Saint-Martin, where Froome went on to take the stage win, putting significant time into his general classification rivals as well as Porte finishing second and Thomas finishing sixth. [34] During the remainder of the race the team faced intense scrutiny regarding their dominant performances; Porte was punched in the ribs by a spectator in the Pyrenees, [35] and Froome claimed he had urine thrown at him by another spectator, [36] and blamed the incident on the French press for 'irresponsible' reporting [37]

On the first rest of the Tour de France Porte confirmed he would leave the team at the end of the season. [38] This would later, in August, be confirmed to be CCC Pro Team. [39]

La Vuelta a España

On 10 August, Chris Froome announced his intention to compete in this years Vuelta a España, [40] becoming only the second reigning Tour winner to ride the Vuelta in the same season. [41]

Stage races

In February the team dominated the Vuelta a Andalucía and Volta ao Algarve with both Froome and Thomas taking both overall wins respectively. On the way to their respective victories Froome won on the stage four summit finish at Alto de Allanadas, whilst both Thomas and Porte won in the Algarve, winning stage two and the stage four summit finish of Malhão. Further, the team also secured multiple top placings; fourth (Nieve), sixth (Kennaugh) and eighth (Siutsou) in Andalucía and fourth (Porte) in the Algarve. At the end of February Stannard scored the team second classic, taking a second successive victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The victory was made more impressive as Stannard made the four-man selection with three Etixx–Quick-Step riders; Boonen, Terpstra and Vandenbergh. [42] [43]

The team's next victory came at Paris–Nice where Porte led a team one-two (along with Thomas) at the summit finish of Croix de Chaubouret. [44] [45] Despite both Porte and Thomas crashing on the stage 6 descent of the Côte de Peille [46] Porte went on to win the stage 7 time trial to the summit of Col d'Èze securing his second overall victory in the race, with a winning margin of 30 seconds over Michał Kwiatkowski. [47] [48]

In the same week, new recruit Wout Poels recorded his first victory for the team when he secured victory on the fifth stage of Tirreno–Adriatico to Castelraimondo. Poels made his decisive move just before the second summiting of the Cipressa, finishing 14 seconds clear of former Sky rider Rigoberto Urán, Joaquim Rodríguez and the rest of the leading group. As a result of his win, Poels moved into the overall race lead. [49] [50] Ben Swift won the second stage of Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali the same day [51] [52] and finally Richie Porte moved into the lead of the Volta a Catalunya [53] [54] a lead he would carry to the end of the race. [55] Victory in Catalunya represented Porte's second overall win of the season and the fourth for the team. [56] [57]

In April, Bradley Wiggins won his final time trial for the team at the Three Days of De Panne, beating Stefan Küng by 10 seconds. [58]

In late April Porte notched up his third overall win of the season, taking the Giro d'Italia warm-up Giro del Trentino four-day stage race. [59] Porte took a decisive stage victory on the queen stage summit finish to Brentonico [60] giving him a margin of 24 seconds over his closest rival, Mikel Landa. Porte would carry the majority of this gap to the finish in Cles. [61] The team then rounded off a successful April by taking victory in the Team Time Trial, by the scant margin of 0.63 seconds, at the Tour de Romandie, placing Geraint Thomas in the yellow leaders jersey [62]

The team rounded off April taking victory in the Tour de Romandie team time trial, [62] Froome taking third place overall. The team began May with success; Lars Petter Nordhaug took the opening stage win at the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, whilst Ben Swift crashed out [63] later requiring surgery. [64]

Chris Froome returned to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné, as part of his build up for the Tour de France, and the team won three stages and took the overall title for the fourth time. Peter Kennaugh opened the team's account taking the victory on stage one, just in front of the bunch sprint finish. [65] Froome went on to dominate the final two summit finish stages, taking victory at Montée du Bettex (stage 7) [66] and Modane Valfréjus (stage 8) [67] giving him a lead of 10 seconds over Tejay van Garderen.

One day races

Ian Stannard on the podium at the 2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Gent - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 28 februari 2015 (E18).JPG
Ian Stannard on the podium at the 2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

In late March the team enjoyed a bumper weekend starting with Geraint Thomas' victory in E3 Harelbeke after attacking his co-breakaway companions, Zdeněk Štybar and Peter Sagan, and soloing to victory. [68] [69]

The weekend was then finished off with Thomas once again, taking third place in Gent–Wevelgem behind victor Luca Paolini and runner-up Niki Terpstra. [70]

After finishing 31 seconds down on Paris–Roubaix winner John Degenkolb, Bradley Wiggins retired from the team and joined his own WIGGINS team, allowing him to focus on the 2016 Olympic Games. [71]

New signing Wout Poels underwent surgery on a broken shoulder bone courtesy of his crash at La Fleche Wallonne. [72]

Season victories

DateRaceCompetitionRiderCountryLocation
24 January Tour Down Under, Stage 5 UCI World Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Willunga
5 February Dubai Tour, Stage 2 UCI Asia Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates Dubai
19 February Volta ao Algarve, Stage 2 UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Geraint Thomas  (GBR)Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Monchique
21 February Vuelta a Andalucía, Stage 4 UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of Spain.svg Spain Alto de Allanadas
21 February Volta ao Algarve, Stage 4 UCI Europe Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal LouléAlto do Malhão  [ pt ]
22 February Vuelta a Andalucía, Overall UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of Spain.svg Spain
22 February Vuelta a Andalucía, Points classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of Spain.svg Spain
22 February Vuelta a Andalucía, Combination classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of Spain.svg Spain
22 February Vuelta a Andalucía, Teams classification UCI Europe Tour [N 1] Flag of Spain.svg Spain
22 February Volta ao Algarve, Overall UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Geraint Thomas  (GBR)Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal
22 February Volta ao Algarve, Points classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Geraint Thomas  (GBR)Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal
22 February Volta ao Algarve, Mountains classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal
28 February Omloop Het Nieuwsblad UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Ian Stannard  (GBR)Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Ghent
12 March Paris–Nice, Stage 4 UCI World Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of France.svg France Croix de Chaubouret
14 March Tirreno–Adriatico, Stage 4 UCI World Tour Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Wout Poels  (NED)Flag of Italy.svg Italy Castelraimondo
15 March Paris–Nice, Stage 7 UCI World Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of France.svg France Col d'Èze
15 March Paris–Nice, Overall UCI World Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of France.svg France
15 March Paris–Nice, Teams classification UCI World Tour [N 2] Flag of France.svg France
27 March Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, Stage 2 UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Ben Swift  (GBR)Flag of Italy.svg Italy Sogliano al Rubicone
27 March E3 Harelbeke UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Geraint Thomas  (GBR)Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Harelbeke
29 March Volta a Catalunya, Overall UCI World Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Spain.svg Spain
29 March Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, Points classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Ben Swift  (GBR)Flag of Italy.svg Italy
29 March Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, Teams classification UCI Europe Tour [N 3] Flag of Italy.svg Italy
2 April Three Days of De Panne, Stage 3b UCI Europe Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Bradley Wiggins  (GBR)Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium De Panne
22 April Giro del Trentino, Stage 2 UCI Europe Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Italy.svg Italy Brentonico
24 April Giro del Trentino, Overall UCI Europe Tour Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Italy.svg Italy
28 April Tour de Romandie, Stage 1 UCI World Tour Team time trial [N 4] Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Vallorbe
1 May Tour de Yorkshire, Stage 1 UCI Europe Tour Flag of Norway.svg  Lars Petter Nordhaug  (NOR)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Scarborough
3 May Tour de Yorkshire, Overall UCI Europe Tour Flag of Norway.svg  Lars Petter Nordhaug  (NOR)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
3 May Tour de Yorkshire, Points classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of Norway.svg  Lars Petter Nordhaug  (NOR)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
3 May Tour de Yorkshire, Teams classification UCI Europe Tour [N 5] Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
10 May Giro d'Italia, Stage 2 UCI World Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of Italy.svg Italy Genoa
17 May Tour of California, Teams classification UCI America Tour [N 6] Flag of the United States.svg United States
23 May Giro d'Italia, Stage 14 UCI World Tour Flag of Belarus.svg  Vasil Kiryienka  (BLR)Flag of Italy.svg Italy Valdobbiadene
7 June Critérium du Dauphiné, Stage 1 UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Peter Kennaugh  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France Albertville
13 June Critérium du Dauphiné, Stage 7 UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
14 June Critérium du Dauphiné, Stage 8 UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France Modane
14 June Critérium du Dauphiné, Overall UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France
21 June Tour de Suisse, Teams classification UCI World Tour [N 7] Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
21 June Tour of Slovenia, Points classification UCI Europe Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Salvatore Puccio  (ITA) [N 8] Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
14 July Tour de France, Stage 10 UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France La Pierre Saint-Martin
26 July Tour de France, Overall UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France
26 July Tour de France, Mountains classification UCI World Tour Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Chris Froome  (GBR)Flag of France.svg France
7 August Tour de Pologne, Stage 6 UCI World Tour Flag of Colombia.svg  Sergio Henao  (COL)Flag of Poland.svg Poland Bukowina Tatrzańska
10 August Eneco Tour, Stage 1 UCI World Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Bolsward
6 September Tour of Britain, Stage 1 UCI Europe Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Wrexham
8 September Tour of Britain, Stage 3 UCI Europe Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Floors Castle
10 September Tour of Britain, Stage 5 UCI Europe Tour Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Wout Poels  (NED)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Hartside Fell
10 September Vuelta a España, Stage 18 UCI World Tour Flag of Ireland.svg  Nicolas Roche  (IRL)Flag of Spain.svg Spain Riaza
13 September Tour of Britain, Stage 8 UCI Europe Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United KingdomLondon
9 October Abu Dhabi Tour, Stage 2 UCI Asia Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi
11 October Abu Dhabi Tour, Stage 4 UCI Asia Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
11 October Abu Dhabi Tour, Points classification UCI Asia Tour Flag of Italy.svg  Elia Viviani  (ITA)Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates
18 October Chrono des Nations UCI Europe Tour Flag of Belarus.svg  Vasil Kiryienka  (BLR)Flag of France.svg France Les Herbiers

National, Continental and World champions 2015

DateDisciplineJerseyRiderCountryLocation
8 January Australian National Time Trial Champion
MaillotAustralia.PNG
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Richie Porte  (AUS)Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Buninyong
18 June European Games Time Trial Champion Flag of Belarus.svg  Vasil Kiryienka  (BLR)Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan Baku
26 JuneBelarus National Time Trial Champion
MaillotBielorrusia.PNG
Flag of Belarus.svg  Vasil Kiryienka  (BLR)Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus Naroulia
28 June British National Road Race Champion
MaillotReinoUnido.PNG
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Peter Kennaugh  (GBR)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Lincoln
23 September World Time Trial Championships
Jersey rainbow chrono.svg
Flag of Belarus.svg  Vasil Kiryienka  (BLR)Flag of the United States.svg United States Richmond

Footnotes

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The 2013 Tour de France was the 100th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on the island of Corsica on 29 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 21 July. The Tour consisted of twenty-one stages and covered a total distance of 3,403.5 km (2,115 mi). The overall general classification was won by Chris Froome of Team Sky. Second and third respectively were Nairo Quintana and the Team Katusha rider Joaquim Rodríguez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richie Porte</span> Australian racing cyclist

Richard Julian Porte is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2022. His successes include wins at 8 World Tour stage races: Paris–Nice in 2013 and 2015, the Volta a Catalunya in 2015, the Tour de Romandie in 2017, the Tour Down Under in 2017 and 2020, the Tour de Suisse in 2018 and the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2021. In Grand Tours, he won the young rider classification at the 2010 Giro d'Italia, his first year at UCI ProTour level, and finished on the podium of the 2020 Tour de France, but was also frequently hit by illnesses and injuries.

The 2011 season for the Team Sky cycling team began in January at the Bay Classic Series and ended in October at the Noosa Grand Prix. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour. Improving upon 20 victories in the 2010 season, Team Sky managed 28 victories during the season, including four Grand Tour stage wins, two each at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. Also at the Vuelta, the team achieved their best Grand Tour showing to date with Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins finishing the race in second and third places – behind Geox–TMC's Juan José Cobo – having both held the red jersey for the general classification lead at some stage of the race. Outside of the Grand Tours, the team achieved stage victories at four other World Tour events and the overall victory at two, with Wiggins winning the pre-Tour warmup event, the Critérium du Dauphiné and Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed victory at the Eneco Tour held in Belgium and the Netherlands. The team were not as successful in single-day races, with three wins taken by Christopher Sutton, Boasson Hagen and Mathew Hayman. With the performances of Froome, Wiggins and Boasson Hagen, Team Sky made a substantial leap up the World Tour rankings; having finished fifteenth in the 2010 UCI World Ranking, Team Sky finished as runners-up in the 2011 rankings, just 40 points behind overall winners Omega Pharma–Lotto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikel Landa</span> Spanish road cyclist

Mikel Landa Meana is a Spanish professional road cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step. His career breakthrough came at the 2015 Giro d'Italia where he won two stages and finished third overall.

The 2012 season for Team Sky began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Tour of Beijing. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obliged to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour. The team took a total of 47 victories in the season with the most notable being Bradley Wiggins' overall victory in the Tour de France. Wiggins (2), Mark Cavendish (3) and Chris Froome also took stage victories in the event, with Froome finishing second to Wiggins in the overall standings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabio Aru</span> Italian cyclist

Fabio Aru is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2012 and 2021 for the Astana, UAE Team Emirates and Team Qhubeka NextHash squads. He hails from San Gavino Monreale in Sardinia, and is known for his climbing ability, which made him a favorite for the Grand Tours. He is known as "The Knight of the four Moors", a reference to his native island of Sardinia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Yates (cyclist)</span> British road and track racing cyclist

Simon Philip Yates is a British professional road and track racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. His twin brother is Adam Yates, who is also a professional cyclist. He won the gold medal in the points race at the 2013 Track Cycling World Championships. Following a doping ban in 2016, he won the young rider classification in the 2017 Tour de France and the general classification in the 2018 Vuelta a España. Yates has taken more than thirty professional victories, including ten Grand Tour stage victories – six at the Giro d'Italia and two each at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Vuelta a Andalucía</span> Cycling race

The 2015 Vuelta a Andalucía was the 61st running of the Vuelta a Andalucía cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the 2015 UCI Europe Tour and was held from 18 to 22 February 2015, in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Although the race lasted five days, there were six stages, with the first day split between two stages.

The 2016 Volta a Catalunya was a road cycling stage race that took place in Catalonia, Spain, from 21 to 27 March. It was the fifth race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the 96th edition of the Volta a Catalunya.

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