Much of Team Sky’s success rests on the shoulders of their principal Dave Brailsford — a man who loves thinking outside the box, writes Matt Majendie.
While other professional teams have traditionally used former cyclists in their support staff, Brailsford and Sky have looked elsewhere.
One example is head of performance support Tim Kerrison, whose background was in swimming, and he has been key in shaping the training programme. Shaun Stephens joined the team after working with the Australian triathlon set-up at London 2012.
It’s true that Sky are one of the richest teams but the key is how they spend their money. While many rivals focus on big rider salaries, Sky, who still pay their riders well, spend heavily on the back-up in terms of sports science, coaching and performance support.
Another key ingredient is “marginal gains”, a key phrase of British Cycling’s track ambitions, where the minutiae were focused on saving even a 10th of a second.
That was translated to Team Sky’s programme with Froome working on his time trialling positioning in a wind tunnel in Southampton. It might have only equated to a few seconds against the clock but it helped a Briton clinch the Tour for the second year in a row.
