To be honest I wasn't that excited by team SKY (probably a bad experience with their customer retention department didn't help) but there has been two things that have drawn me in. 1. Scott Sunderland, there is something warm and human about him and I like that. 2. The strict 'No Drugs' rule. Not a sniff or whiff of a rumour is allowed, and unlike most Teams this has been extended to the whole support Staff from top to bottom.
Lots of rumours are going around and frankly this is good because it shows a firm strong interest in the Team. Will they get a ProTour license, well that's not known yet but the way they are conducting the business it should work in their favour. Here are my current favourites.
The Riders:
Bradley Wiggins has been rumoured to be joining the Team for months and ever since his sterling performance in the Tour the rumour dial has been turned up to 12. To me it would make great sense as Brad has been part of the track system which has encouraged and allowed him to perform at the highest level.
Fabian Cancellara is one rider I have heard being mentioned in various circles to be joining the Team. This would be awesome as it would add firepower for TTT, TT and the Classics, plus the passion and experience he could offer to the up and coming British riders would be invaluable. Having previously worked with Sunderland at CSC I am sure this maybe a crucial factor in the decision.
Hardware and Software
It is likely that Adidas will supply the label for the clothing, I doubt that this will include shoes as many riders already have deals set up. I would expect that the designs are by Adidas but it is likely MOA will actually produce the uniforms.
The Frames/bikes. There has been a lot of talk on who it will be. The current favourites are Giant, Colnago and Pinarello. Specialized have also been mentioned but I would be surprised that they decide to sponsor a third top level team, but that may depend on what happens with Quick Step as their contract is up for renewal soon. My money would have to go on Giant as the decision will be based on the technical qualities of the frame. That brings me nicely onto Groupsets and Wheels. For Groupsets I think that SKY could well be the first Team to use Di2 on all bikes whether it be the TT or Road bikes.
Wheels I think are likely to be Zipp. Zipp managed to chalk up more wins at this years Tour de France than all the rest put together. As both Sunderland and Boardman are both fans of the wheels my guess is that they will be the hoops of choice. If not them the only other brands would be either Mavic or Vision (as in FSA). Tyres well my guess is it'll be Vittoria, with Continental coming a close second.
So roll on September the 1st and we will all be able to see what Team SKY has to offer, oh and the colour of the uniform I am guessing it won't be blue.
