Swift's Tour Down Under wins help GB's Olympic hopes

Ben Swift wins stage, Tour Down Under 2011, stage six
Nigel Wynn
By Nigel Wynn
published

Not only were Ben Swift's two Tour Down Under stage wins and third place in the final overall classification an endorsement of the British rider's talent, but they also gave British Cycling an unexpected windfall of qualification points for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Prior to the start of the TdU in Adelaide, Australia, last week British Cycling had hoped to come away with six points from a stage win by Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad). But instead Swift's solid performance for Team Sky in the opening race in this year's UCI Worldtour has netted Britain 82 points. Cavendish's performance in the race was curtailed due to a crash on stage one.

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Nigel Wynn
Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed. 

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