Morris Possoni has the classic build of the climber and, at 25, the Italian could have a big future in the Grand Tours, where he should excel in the high mountains. His ability in such terrain is underlined by his ninth place in the 2008 Tour of Lombardy, and his second in the King of the Mountains classification of the 2009 Vuelta al Pais Vasco in Spain, where he also placed second on stage four.

Yet Possoni selects, as the best result of his career to date, a team time trial - an event that traditionally suits big, strong 'rouleurs'. With his Columbia team-mates he claimed a stage of a Grand Tour, winning the team time trial that opened the 2009 Giro d'Italia. He also featured in the successful team at the Tour de Romandie.

"Those were my best performances but no, I don't like them!" says Possoni of the two team time trials. "I'm a climber, so my build and ability is not really suited to them, but I was happy to win.

"My future ambition," he continues, "is to aim for the podium in a Grand Tour. My ambition at the moment is to learn to ride the Giro, maybe the Tour de France, and to do well in the mountains. I like the Giro, and I like smaller, week-long stage races - those are my favourite type of races."

Possoni lives in Bergamo, in the north of Italy, where he is surrounded by his beloved mountains. "I train a lot in the mountains," he says. "There are a lot of riders in the area, and when I was young I was inspired by the top Italian riders - [Paolo] Savoldelli, [Ivan] Gotti...I used to watch the Giro when I was a child and started racing when I was ten."

On joining Team Sky, Possoni adds: "This is a new adventure and I'm looking forward to it."