Sir Dave Brailsford confirms that Owain Doull will ride for Sky post-Olympic Games, after Bradley Wiggins lets slip the news at the Tour of California
Team Sky have announced that Owain Doull will join them after the 2016 Olympic Games, confirming Bradley Wiggins’s statement that the Welshman would join them from Team Wiggins.
Wiggins had told press at the Tour of California – where both he and Doull are currently riding – that Doull would move to Team Sky for the 2017 season.
Sky team principal Sir Dave Brailsford joked that he should have known that Wiggins would ‘let the cat out of the bag’ regarding Sky’s signing of Doull.
“We’re very happy to confirm that Owain will be coming over to Team Sky,” said Brailsford. “He’ll be joining up with us after the Olympics.
“Brad has been pretty excited about having a rider coming over to us from his team and so we probably should have known he would let the cat out of the bag!”
Doull is on the short-list to ride for Great Britain in the team pursuit at the Olympics alongside Wiggins. He elected to continue riding with the British-based, Continental-level Team Wiggins rather than sign with a bigger squad to focus on the 2016 Games.
With the Games over, he’ll be moving up to the top flight. He will join fellow Welsh riders Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe on the team.
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory why we wanted Owain at Team Sky,” said Brailsford. “He has consistently put in excellent performances on the track and the road for a while now and we think he has the potential to be an important part of the team.
“From a personal perspective it’s always great to be bringing young British talent into Team Sky and it reflects very well on the investment and support Sky has provided through the British Cycling programme, the Wiggins team and, of course, Team Sky.
“The fact that Owain is another addition to our Welsh contingent is obviously another big positive!
“Owain has a big year ahead of him with the Wiggins team and then the Olympics, but we’re looking forward to giving him a proper welcome to Team Sky after Rio.”
Doull placed third overall in the 2015 Tour of Britain and made an impressive start to the Tour of California on Sunday, coming 15th on the stage won by Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).
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