Racing

World points champion Jon Dibben signs for Team Sky for 2017 season

Rising British star, 22, becomes latest addition to Team Sky squad for next year

World points champion Jon Dibben is the third British neo-pro to sign for Team Sky for the 2017 season, the British WorldTour team has confirmed.

Dibben, 22, will join fellow former Wiggins team-mate Owain Doull and former Axeon-Hagens Berman rider Tao Geoghegan Hart in riding for Team Sky from next season.

Jon Dibben will join Team Sky for 2017, joining fellow young Brits Owain Doull and Tao Geoghegan Hart in turning pro with the team (pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Southampton-born Dibben has already had a taste of the WorldTour, having ridden as a stagiaire for Cannondale-Drapac, and will now continue his cycling education by turning pro with Team Sky.

“It’s very exciting,” Dibben said on joining. “It’s going to be a big change and obviously a big step up, going from Team WIGGINS and an academy which is very track-focused, to go into the biggest cycling team in the world.

“It’s certainly a large step up and it’s a great opportunity to get into the big leagues and see what it’s all about.

“Obviously I know Owain and Tao – they are two of my best mates – so it’s good that we’re all joining the team together. It’s certainly a whole new environment and a different lifestyle. It’s a big change and it’s something I’m looking forward to.”

Dibben was widely expected to feature at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after his points race success in London, where he also helped the team pursuit team to a silver medal.

But an injury derailed his track ambitions, leaving Dibben to renew his focus on the road season – resulting in three top-three finishes at the Tour de l’Avenir and a ninth place finish overall at the under-23 UCI Road World Championships.

Dibben had earlier finished second at the Under-23 Tour of Flanders before riding for Cannondale-Drapac at the Tour of Utah.

Dibben won points race gold at the 2016 UCI Track World Championships before renewing his focus on the road when injury ruled him out of the build-up to Rio 2016 (pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

The signing of the 22-year-old takes Team Sky’s tally of British riders for 2017 back up to nine, with Dibben, Doull and Geoghegan Hart joining rising star Alex Peters and established WorldTour pros Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Peter Kennaugh and Luke Rowe on the roster.

Dibben becomes the sixth new rider set to join Team Sky for next season too, joining Doull, Geoghegan Hart, Kenny Elissonde, Diego Rosa and Lukasz Wisniowski.

“They are a team who deliver with the results that they get and they get a lot of respect in the bunch,” Dibben added in an interview with the team website.

“They do their own thing and they do it well. It’s a privilege really to be joining the team.”