Team Sky has its eyes on signing rising British stage race talents, Yates twins Adam and Simon for the 2016 season.
"It doesn't take a genius [to figure it out]," team boss, Dave Brailsford told Cycling Weekly. "We are a British team ultimately, with a global roster and global race programme, but to have them would seem to make absolute sense."
The two shot through the amateur ranks. Adam placed second overall in the Tour de L'Avenir. Simon placed 10th and won two stages, and at the Tour of Britain, he placed third behind Bradley Wiggins and took home one stage victory. At the end of the year, though, they signed for Australia's Orica-GreenEdge team instead of Sky.
"They're in the right team, they made the right decision," Brailsford added. "They are getting their opportunities. Those opportunities are difficult to get in our team. If they were in our team they'd be working."
Simon Yates continued his stellar year with a 2013 Tour of Britain stage 6 win on Haytor and third overall. Here we see him on the slopes of Caerphilly mountain during the finale to stage 5
The 21-year-olds spoke with Sky about joining last season but signed two-year contracts for Orica. Orica sports director, Matt Wilson explained: "They get more chances in our team, if they went to Sky, they'd be working for Chris Froome. Instead, Adam had the chance to ride his own race in the Dauphiné."
"You have to sometimes look at the bigger picture. We are competing in every race at the high level and trying to win," added Brailsford. "For young guys to come in and try to get development opportunities... You can only offer that to so many young guys, if you have too many young guys you can't do it."
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Adam is taking a well-earned break after the Dauphiné and Simon is returning in the Tour of Slovenia after breaking his collarbone. Both are focused on their debut season and have not spoken about life beyond 2014.
"It's like going and doing your apprenticeship and learning, getting a lot of info," Brailsford said. "At a certain point in time, we'd like to think they'd ride for Sky. For sure, absolutely."
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
