THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015 SPORTS Sky to split with British Cycling after 2016 LONDON: British Cycling’s partnership with broad- “The last 10 years have been brilliant for our sport- Brailsford promised a first British Tour de France million have taken part in mass participation events caster Sky will end in 2016 after eight extraordinary our membership and participation in cycle sport con- champion, few believed it would actually happen. called Sky Rides, Sky Ride Locals or Breeze rides since years which led to a golden run of Olympic success, tinues to grow, we’ve encouraged over 1.7 million The doubters were quickly silenced when Bradley 2009. Membership of British Cycling has expanded two Tour de France champions and put a cynical pub- people to cycle regularly with even more starting all Wiggins wore the yellow jersey through to Paris in from 21,000 in January 2008 to more than 111,000 in lic back on two wheels. the time and we are seeing the emergence of a new 2012 and Froome followed a year later. June 2015 and 2,034 clubs are now affiliated to the The split, confirmed yesterday, will have no impact generation of cycling heroes.” At the 2012 London Olympics, Britain dominated national governing body. “The partnership with Sky on pro cycling outfit Team Sky, which hopes to be cel- Sky’s sponsorship of British Cycling began just in the velodrome and on the road, winning eight since 2008 is an important part of that story. Sky gave ebrating another Tour win for Briton Chris Froome in before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and was renewed cycling golds, two silvers and two bronzes. British Cycling the platform from which to communi- Paris later this month. in 2012 for a further four years amid a surge in popu- However, it is the impact of British Cycling’s rela- cate the best of the sport and, through British Cycling, “British Cycling and Sky will remain firm friends larity for the sport. Team Sky has become one of the tionship with the broadcaster on recreational and Sky has delivered lasting and positive change,” Drake and part with great mutual affection, having achieved heavyweights of world cycling with its budget and club cycling that has proved most spectacular. added. Sky said it would help the governing body amazing things together,” British Cycling chief execu- infrastructure the envy of many, yet when it began as According to British Cycling, 1.7 million more peo- find a new partner from 2017 and would continue to tive Ian Drake said in a statement. Sky ProCycling in 2009 and team principal Dave ple than in 2008 are now cycling regularly, while 1.2 run Team Sky. — Reuters Tour set for Battle Royale PARIS: Alberto Contador will cement his status as the best grand tour rider of the modern era if he emerges as the winner of the Big Four’s battle royale at the Tour de France- the most highly anticipated race in decades. The Spaniard is looking to achieve the Giro d’Italia/Tour double for the first time since the late Marco Pantani in 1998 but the competition has never been fiercer for the seven-time grand tour champion who will retire at the end of next year. Chris Froome, the 2013 champion, and Nairo Quintana, who hopes to become the first Colombian to win the Tour, look fresher while defending champion Vincenzo Nibali will also be in the mix on a treacherous course. The first goal will be to make it to the first rest day after riding on cobbles, through potentially bunch-splitting winds and mastering dangerous courses as well as a tricky team time trial, a discipline Team Sky have failed to master lately. “Organisers want to create a show every day, but they put the riders at risk,” Eusebio Unzue, Quintana’s Movistar team manager, told Reuters. Last year, Froome and Contador crashed out of the Tour and Nibali powered to victory as Quintana had skipped the race. This time, all four should be in decent shape when the three-week race starts in Utrecht, Netherlands, on Saturday. Should they fail, a swarm of second fiddles or young guns led by France’s Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, will be ready to seize their opportunity in a very mountainous Tour. “If one of them (Pinot, Bardet or American Tejay van Garderen) attacks and we start looking at each other, it could change the Tour,” said Quintana, whose ability to attack far from the finish could disrupt Froome’s well-oiled Team Sky machine. AGGRESSIVE NIBALI Nibali, whose Astana team came close to losing their licence over doping problems, have looked out of from lately but he retained his Italian title last weekend in aggressive fashion, suggesting he has the legs to unsettle his rivals in the first week on the cobbles, just like he did last year. Contador, similarly, will use every opportunity to aggress Froome, and the Tinkoff-Saxo rider has probably marked the dangerous descent from the col d’Allos (stage 17), the highest point of the Tour, as an attacking chance. The last Tour featuring so many big guns was probably the vintage 1986 edition won by American Greg LeMond. This year’s race also features a handful of outsiders, such as Pinot, Bardet, Van Garderen and also France’s Warren Barguil and Britain’s Simon Yates, plus Spanish veterans Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez. Even if first-week stages usually reserved for them will finish uphill (Mur de Huy, Mur de Bretagne in stages 3 and 8), the sprinters will get their chance to shine. All signs point to a duel between the resurgent Mark Cavendish of Britain-looking to improve from his 25 stage wins-and man-of-the-season Alexander Kristoff of Norway in the absence of German Marcel Kittel, with another German, Andre Greipel, looking to snatch stage wins. They will be challenged in the points classification by Germany’s John Degenkolb, Slovakia’s Peter Sagan and Frenchmen Bryan Coquard and Nacer Bouhanni. For the first time an African team will be on the Tour when MTN- Qhubeka line up at the start in Utrecht. — Reuters Quintana takes the high road en route to Tour PARIS: Nairo Quintana has flown under the radar in the build- up to the Tour de France and although his team manager has cautioned against his inexperience, the Movistar rider could become the first Colombian to win the Grande Boucle. The 25-year-old spent about six weeks in his home country training at altitude while other big guns were checking out Barguil, Yates share common Frenchman Morabito Tour stages and racing in the Tour de Suisse or the Criterium du Dauphine week long races. It was a programme that suited path towards the Tour eyes Tour de France Quintana well in 2013, when he finished second overall on his PARIS: Steve Morabito rode in the Pinot’s mentor, told Reuters. Tour debut before going on to win the Giro d’Italia a year later. PARIS: Hot prospects Warren Barguil and classification.” A highly regarded character in service of Lance Armstrong and “He also gives him serenity in the He skipped the Tour that year and this year’s race seems Simon Yates have been tipped to win the the team, Barguil enjoyed having first class Alberto Contador, and helped Cadel races. Now Thibaut won’t panic in tailor-made for the swarthy-faced climber who should relish Tour de France one day, yet neither is riding domestiques in Spain like Paris-Roubaix and Evans in the Australian’s successful tense racing situations. “I’m making the mountain stages. Tour de France challenge in 2011. sure he does not have to worry about Looking to ease the pressure on his protege, Movistar team for a team from their home country as they Milan-San Remo champion John Degenkolb. learn the ropes abroad. “It’s nice to see John Degenkolb going to The Swiss is now Thibaut Pinot’s certain things,” Morabito said. “I can be manager Eusebio Unzue told Reuters that Quintana was still right-hand man in his quest to kind of a guide to put everything in learning. “You could say Nairo, after what he’s achieved in the France’s Barguil, 23, is with Dutch team fetch you a bottle,” he said with a smile on his Giant-Alpecin while Briton Yates, 22, rides for face. After some altitude training paid off, become the first Frenchman to win place at the right time or be the alarm past two years, is the favourite for the Tour de France, having the Tour since Bernard Hinault in bell if some things are not going well.” won last year’s Giro,” he said. Australian outfit Orica-GreenEDGE. Barguil Barguil finished eighth overall, giving anoth- 1985. “It’s a crazy project. I learnt a lot So far, everything has been going “But the truth is that the Tour is something else. The three will make his Tour debut on Saturday aiming er indication of his huge potential, which and now it’s time to give back,” the 32- smoothly as Pinot won two top big favorites are Alberto (Contador), (Vincenzo) Nibali and for a stage win while compatriots Thibaut might see him get scooped up by a top year-old Morabito told Reuters at a mountain stages this season and (Chris) Froome. They have something fundamental that Nairo Pinot and Romain Bardet will be in the lime- French team when his contract expires at the FDJ training camp in the Pyrenees.