Team Sky has added another three riders to its roster to make 22 out of a 25-man squad announced so far.
Sylvain Calzati, Nicolas Portal and Mathew Hayman join the new outfit for its 2010 campaign starting at the Tour Down Under in Australia in January.
French newspaper L'Equipe wrote in early October that Calzati would be the making a move to Sky as sponsor Agritubel ended its backing of the 30-year-old's team, but today's press release is the first official announcement.
Calzati is joined by fellow Frenchman Nicholas Portal - a six-time Tour de France rider - from Caisse d'Epargne and Australian Mathew Hayman from Rabobank. Classics specialist Hayman has been with the Dutch squad since turning pro in 2000. He won the Commonwealth Games road race in 2006.
Dave Brailsford, team principal for Team Sky, said: "It's a great pleasure for us to have Sylvain and Nicolas onboard as our first two French riders. They are both experienced pros with a lot of good results on their CVs and they are both really versatile, all-round riders. Mathew has made his mark at the Classics, is a great team player and a solid performer throughout the year."
Best results - winner, Tour de l'Avenir 2004
Nicolas Portal
Previous Team - Caisse d'Epargne
Mathew Hayman
Of the 22 riders confirmed so far, Edvald Boasson Hagen is the stand-out star of Team Sky. Riding for Team Columbia in 2009, he bagged 13 wins, including Ghent-Wevelgem and a stage of the Giro d'Italia. Those results saw him ranked sixth in the UCI's world calendar, with only Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Samuel Sanchez, Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans ahead of him.
But of the other 21 Team Sky has signed, Australian Simon Gerrans is the only other rider ranked in the top 50. His stage wins in the Giro and the Vuelta, plus excellent top ten positions in the three Ardennes Classics, Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, saw him finish 25th. His former team, Cervélo, was not in the ProTour but gained entry to most of the big races.
Of the 22 riders to have been confirmed so far, 11 have been recruited from fellow ProTour teams, with 10 stepping up from the Pro Continental level. Peter Kennaugh, a product of British Cycling's Academy, is the only new professional in the line-up.
Between them they grabbed 32 wins for their respective teams in 2009. If they'd all been riding for the same team this season, that team would have been the fourth most prolific pro team after Columbia, Saxo Bank and Serramenti Diquigiovanni, although a long way off Columbia's tally of 85 victories.
Wins in 2009 13 - Ghent-Wevelgem, Giro d'Italia stage, Norwegian national championship time trial, two Tour of Poland stages, two ENECO Tour stages and overall, four Tour of Britain stages and overall
Thomas Lövkvist (Swe)
Wins in 2009 1 - Saschen Tour stage
Wins in 2009 4 - Tour of Britain stage, three Jayco Herald Sun Tour stages
Wins in 2009 1 - Norwegian national championship road race
age 30 from Caisse d'Epargne
RIDERS SIGNED FROM PRO CONTINENTAL TEAMS
Simon Gerrans (Aus)
age 29 from Cervélo
Wins in 2009 3 - Giro d'Italia stage, GP Plouay, Vuelta a Espana stage
age 26 from Cervélo
Wins in 2009 2 - Tour of Ireland stage and overall
Wins in 2009 2 - Tour of Ireland stage, Tour of Normandy stage
Wins in 2009 1 - Giro del Capo stage
Wins in 2009 1 - Giro del Capo stage
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