Sky's coaching prowess proves irresistible to Tour of Britain winner

Columnist and Senior Features Writer

Friday 5 October 2012

A move to Team Sky next season for Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, the Tour of Britain winner and rising star, has been confirmed.

Custom byline text:

Susan Swarbrick

The Plymouth-born rider, currently with the Scottish-based Endura Racing, has signed a two-year contract with Sky and is expected to be at the forefront of the team's assault on the spring classics for 2013. He told Herald Sport: "I know it's going to be a big step-up in terms of what is required of me and the pressure to perform in a set-up like Sky. I have raced World Tour guys this year and won, so I know I'm capable of it."

A race programme centred around the classics, such as La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, would be a good fit for his explosive puncheur style of riding. "That's what I'm suited to: the shorter climbs, one after the other in quick succession," he said. "They require power but not the same as being a stick-thin climber for an hour-long climb. The classics are definitely what I dream about."Tiernan-Locke became the first British man in 19 years to win his home tour last month, having recorded victories in Le Tour Mediterraneen, Tour du Haut Var and Tour of Alsace. He finished 19th in the recent UCI Road World Championships in Limburg, Netherlands.While the 27-year-old is rumoured to have other deals on the table, including, it is believed, one from Garmin-Sharp, the coaching set-up at Sky was a lure. "I'd had a few good offers and I could have – although it's not everything – been financially better off somewhere else, but the difference is so small at the highest level and if they [Sky] could get an extra per cent out of a perfor-mance that appealed to me. All of the guys who go there seem to be able to raise their game. I wanted to be part of that."Sky's strong anti-doping policy was another attraction. "When you are in a team and everything is transparent that can only be a good thing," he said. "I like how they publish power data so that everyone can see what you are doing isn't implausible and ridiculous. You can have all the [biological] passport controls you like but there are still people who will point the finger at certain teams."

Contextual targeting label:

Block list

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Sky's coaching prowess proves irresistible to Tour of Britain winner

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED