Chris Froome has been described as a rough, unpolished diamond with loads of potential. He only began racing when he was 18, having spent his teenage years mountain biking, but "not really competitively, just for a bit of fun."

Though Froome's family is originally from Britain, his parents moved to Kenya before he was born - and so he grew up there, before moving to South Africa as a teenager. He also competed for Kenya until two years ago, when he made the switch to Great Britain, where much of his extended family still lives.

The 'rough diamond' description refers simply to his bike riding, and the unpolished nature of his talent, since Froome himself is anything but. Indeed, he has already been nominated for the unofficial title of nicest guy on the team - though obviously there is stiff competition!

A strong climber, Froome rode the Tour de France in 2008 for his previous team, Barloworld, and he put in an impressive performance, finishing 84th overall and figuring in the break on the decisive stage to Alpe d'Huez. He followed that with a solid 36th overall in his second Grand Tour, the 2009 Giro d'Italia, placing sixth on stage 14.

"I'd like to become a GC (general classification) rider in the future," he says, "but I have a lot of steps to take before I get there. And I'm quite happy to fulfil my role as a team player in the meantime. I'd like to aim for a smaller tour, maybe one of the Spanish stage races, and try to be up there on GC.

"My real hope is that I can realise my potential with this team, and working with British Cycling the last two years has been brilliant. I've got so much to work on and improve on, and the team is helping me identify those and get those marginal gains that are so important."