Adam Blythe: 'Signing for Aqua Blue was a no-brainer'

Adam Blythe is excited by the project at his new team Aqua Blue Sport, saying that they have everything in place to develop riders and achieve big results.

With Tinkoff folding, the Yorkshireman is to step down from the WorldTour ranks in 2017 to race for Pro-Continental Irish team Aqua Blue, who have also recruited Andy Fenn, Leigh Howard, Matt Brammeier and Lars Petter Nordhaug from cycling's top tier.

Blythe has signed a two year contract with the team, meaning for the first time since his BMC days in 2012 and 2013, he will race for more than one season at one team.

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Deciding to sign for the sport's newcomers was an easy decision when he heard about their plans. "They offered me two years, it was a good offer and I jumped at it. It was a n0-brainer," he told Cycling Weekly.

What was it exactly that enticed the current British road race champion to sign a contract with the Aqua Blue? "It was the structure around the team, they want to develop me," he said.

"I knew a few of the guys who were there already and that makes life easier. It's going to be a strong team and the race program was an important factor.

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"I'm not sure of my race calendar year, I need to sit down with the team and set my goals. I need see what targets I'm going to pick and go from there."

On paper, Aqua Blue are set up to be competitive in sprints and one-day Classics, an assumption which Blythe echoes. "The team wants success but also wants to grow," he added. "The riders the team has got, it's got all the attributes to do just that - grow.

"We have sprinters, one day riders for the hillier Classics, strong people who can do most things. Where the team is looking to go - which is the future, to keep growing - we have a good selection of riders to do that."