Can Sky Win All Three Grand Tours?

The off-season is generally a dull time for cycling fans. After spending the previous six or so months being able to turn Eurosport on at 2pm, reasonably confident that there will be some cycling to watch, that joy is gone. However, the steady flow of transfers does begin to prepare us for the next season, as we look forward to seeing how the teams will approach races with new rosters.

At Team Sky, there has definitely been a change of focus over the winter. Wiggins’ Tour de France victory seems to have instilled confidence that the team can change for overall honours in all of the biggest races. This has led to the departures of the likes of Cavendish, Dowsett, and Appollonio, who have all seen that they will have limited opportunities in a team with its head turned towards the mountains.

Joe Dombrowski

In their place have come riders who are much more adept when the road turns upwards. Vasil Kiryenka and Dario Cataldo have both won mountain stages in grand tours. Dombrowski spent last year’s US Pro Cycling Challenge on the offensive against the likes of Nibali and Van Garderen, and will surely be challenging in grand tours in the future if he can improve his time trialling. Ian Boswell, who rode with Dombrowski at Bontrager-Livestrong, was second in U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year and fifth overall in the Tour de l’Avenir (despite struggling on the summit finish at the Col du Télégraphe), while Josh Edmondson was a revelation to outsiders at the Tour of Britain. And then there’s Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who was a constant sight at the front of the World Championships despite riding for a Continental level team.

No doubt then, that there is plenty of strength and depth, but is there enough to be able to successfully challenge for all the grand tours in one year, something that no team has achieved before. Below are possible teams for each race.

Giro d’Italia 
Dario Cataldo
Joe Dombrowski
Peter Kennaugh
Vasil Kiryenka
Gabrel Rasch
Kantanstin Siutsou
Ian Stannard
Rigoberto Uran
Bradley Wiggins

Tour de France
Edvald Boasson Hagan
Bernhard Eisel
Chris Froome
Vasil Kiryenka
Christian Knees
Richie Porte
Kantanstin Siutsou
Geraint Thomas
Bradley Wiggins

Vuelta a Espana
Sergio Henao
David Lopez
Danny Pate
Salvatore Puccio
Luke Rowe
Ian Stannard
Ben Swift
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Rigoberto Uran

Despite previous conflicting statements, Wiggins has recently confirmed that he will be focusing on the Giro d’Italia while riding the Tour as a support rider for Chris Froome. Selecting possible teams for the Giro and Tour is therefore reasonably easy. There are a wealth of riders to act as domestiques in both, with Kiryenka and Siutsou being the only riders aside from Wiggins to have to hold their form between the two races. There are also some good riders who are able to control the race on flat stages, with the likes of Rasch, Stannard, Eisel, and Knees well adept at that role. With talented leaders and strong support squads, Sky have good reason to be optimistic ahead of the first two Grand Tours of the season.

As for the Vuelta, well this is where things start to get a bit more tricky. Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran have both proven themselves to be half-decent three week riders, but are prone to jour sans which can lead to sizeable time losses. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke should thrive on the steep summit finishes, such as the brutal Angliru, which the 2013 Vuelta has in store, but will be going into the unknown with a three week stage race. Choosing to focus on the Ardennes Classics means that he will probably miss the Giro, making the Vuelta his first grand tour. Recovering and managing fatigue is key to maintaining a grand tour challenge, and whether Tiernan-Locke will be able to cope is obviously unknown. As for the rest of the team, Lopez and, to a certain extent, Pate will provide support in the mountains, Swift will look to challenge in the sprints, while Rowe and Puccio may be looking to seize any opportunities which lumpy stages may throw their way.

So can Sky win the Vuelta? To be quite honest it’s going to depend on who else is there. Uran, Henao, and Tiernan-Locke are all good riders, but they’re not going to be able to challenge if we get a repeat of last year with Contador, Rodriguez and Valverde challenging for the overall. However, if 2013 proves to be like 2011, when some relatively inexperienced were targeting the red jersey, then Team Sky have every chance of winning the Vuelta, and perhaps adding it to previous Giro and Tour success.