Team Sky riders let their hair down with incredible costumes at team Christmas party

Team Sky might be renowned for their ultra-professional approach and marginal gains, but the riders showed that they know how to let their hair down as they donned their best Christmas fancy dress for the training camp Christmas dinner.

In what was probably a nice break from the usual routine of strict diets and early nights, it looks like there was abundant wine, plenty of roast potatoes, and mountains of Christmas pudding for the riders to tuck in to.

We hope that best-dressed award went to new recruit Kristoffer Halvorsen with his all-in-one Christmas tree outfit, although how he managed to fit that in his luggage for the flight over from Norway we have no idea.

However an honourable mention must go to Benat Intxausti, who must have got some odd looks on his way down to dinner, striding around in a revealing "sexy Santa" outfit, presumably having lost a bet of some sorts.

Unfortunately not all members of the team put in quite the same level of effort, with most going for a fairly standard Christmas jumper or, in Luke Rowe

>>>'s case, a Christmas onesie.

The only disappointment of the night is that there are no photos of Dave Brailsford dressing up in a Santa Claus outfit and presenting each rider with their 2018 Pinarello Dogmas wrapped up as suspiciously bike-shaped packaged. At least that's what we imagine happens at these things.

>>> Christmas gifts for cyclists 2017: festive treats from £8 to £500+

Away from the festivities, the team has had to endure some pretty inclement weather in their first training camp in the year in Mallorca, with freezing temperatures and falling snow making for less than ideal conditions to kick off preparations for the 2018 season.

Michal Kwiatkowski was one of a number of riders to post videos and photos of the team riding through heavy snow, with the scene not looking that much different from his native Poland.