BSkyB announced the creation of a professional British road cycling team, Team Sky, in February 2009. The Team Principal is Great Britain's Olympic performance director Dave Brailsford CBE.

Team Sky is built on the principles that have made British riders a consistent success on the track and supports Sky's work as Principal Partner of British Cycling, fuelling the sport from grass roots to elite level.

Team Sky aims to:

- Inspire people of all ages and abilities to get on their bikes, through the team's positive profile, attitude and success.

- Create a winner of the Tour de France, within five years.

- Add further support to competitive cycling in Great Britain.

Jeremy Darroch, CEO of Sky, said of the project: "Sky has a core belief in the power of sport - we want to get people involved. We are hugely impressed by Dave Brailsford, inspired by the success of British riders and excited about embarking upon this ambitious project together.

"Sky is the principal partner for British Cycling, supports the Youth Sport Trust through Sky Sports Living for Sport and invests heavily in British sport. Team Sky builds on this and will inspire people of all ages and abilities to get out and ride, for fun, for fitness and for the environment."

Dave Brailsford explained: "This has been a dream for some time and now Sky has made it happen. It wouldn't work without them.

"Team Sky brings to a professional road team the performance principles that have worked so well with the current GB teams; commitment, meticulous planning, the aggregation of marginal gains and a rider-centred philosophy.

"We want to make heroes, persuade a generation to pull on Team Sky colours and inspire people to ride. This will be an epic story; building a British team to take on the best in professional cycling, and win."

Team Sky was awarded a four-year UCI Pro Licence in the autumn of 2009 and made their debut on the road at the Tour Down Under in January 2010, Chris Sutton winning the final stage in Adelaide.

Olympic triple gold-medallist Bradley Wiggins, who came fourth in last year's Tour de France, is one of 26 riders who have been recruited to ride for the team. The roster features a wealth of experience and developing talent drawn from 12 different nations and includes eight British riders.

Since becoming Principal Partner of British Cycling in 2008 Sky has used its relationship with millions of homes to encourage families to get out and ride, for their health, for fitness and for fun. A series of five summer Skyrides brought together more than 100,000 recreational riders, of all ages and abilities, to ride traffic-free streets across four British cities.