Ben Swift's Tour Victory in France

Story posted May 17, 2010; by Jonathan Turner (www.teamsky.com)

Rotherham's Ben Swift has given Britian's Team Sky their first overall stage race victory by winning the Tour de Picardie in northern France on Sunday.  The 22-year-old from Yorkshire was the dominant rider in the three-day race, finishing a close-up second on stage one, landing the spoils on stage two and then safely finishing in the front group on the final day to wrap up the general classification.

Swift was ninth behind Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun) on the final stage, a 174.5km route from Crépy en Valois to Sissonne, as Team Sky made sure they controlled the race to protect the yellow jersey. It meant he finished seven seconds ahead of Koldo Fernandez (Euskaltel) on the overall standings, with main threat Allan Davis (Astana) a further three seconds back in third while Swift's fellow Rotherham teammate, Russell Downing, took fourth.

It is the first general classification victory of Swift's career and is also a landmark for Team Sky. Prior to Swift's win, Edvald Boasson Hagen's second place at the Tour of Oman was the closest the ProTour outfit had previously come in their debut season. To round off a memorable few days for Swift in only his second season as a professional, he also collected both the Points classification and the Young riders' jersey.

Speaking to www.teamsky.com, Swift was quick to pay tribute to his teammates, saying: "They did an awesome job again to control the race right from the word go, they looked after me the whole day. It was perfect and without them I'd have been nowhere. I was in a strong position but we needed to keep an eye on the bonus seconds. With Allan Davis not picking up anything there, all I needed to do then was finish inside the top 20."

And he admitted it was a special moment for both himself and the team as a whole, adding: "It's the first GC for me and the first for the team so hopefully now we can pick up a few more."

Final General Classification

1. Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     12:26:25      
2. Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi     0:00:07      
3. Allan Davis (Aus) Astana     0:00:10      

4. Russell Downing (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     0:00:12      
33. Davide Vigano (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team            
38. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     0:01:14      
84. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team     0:04:05      
86. Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     0:04:17      
89. Nicolas Portal (Fra) Sky Professional Cycling Team     0:04:23     

Points Classification

1. Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     59     pts
7. Russell Downing (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     35     

Young Riders Classification

1. Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     12:26:25      
7. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team     0:01:14

Teams Classification

1. Sky Professional Cycling Team     37:20:19