ENG
ITA
Danny Pate
Danny Pate is one of four riders to have been signed from HTC-Highroad this season and is widely considered as one of the hardest-working riders in the peloton.
Pate turned professional in 2000 and marked himself out as a star of the future by winning the World Under-23 Time Trial Championship in 2001.
Instead of making the immediate switch to Europe though, Pate chose to concentrate on the American scene before finally making the trip over the Atlantic with Jonathan Vaughters’ TIAA-CREF team in 2006.
That season Pate won the time trial at the Tour de Beauce and also claimed top-10 finishes at both the Tour de Limousin and Tour de l'Ain.
In the years that followed, Pate sacrificed his own chances of success to become one of the newly-named Garmin team’s key domestiques and rode back-to-back Giro d’Italia and Tour de Frances in both 2008 and 2009. That brought with it a team time trial success in Italy and also saw him bag podium places on two further occasions.
Another solid season was to follow in 2010 before the Coloradoan made the move to HTC-Highroad in 2011. Pate immediately settled in and became one of Mark Cavendish’s main lead-out men as the Manxman become the first British rider ever to win the green jersey at the Tour de France.
Pate is looking forward to commencing a new chapter in his career at Team Sky, and says: “I was fortunate to have a number of offers from teams for next season. After riding with HTC-Highroad, I wanted to stay at the highest level in cycling and be part of the most professional team in the peloton. That is why I have chosen Team Sky and I am delighted to be joining one of the best-structured teams ever in cycling.
“Team Sky has a fantastic backroom staff, some highly talented riders, and a shared motivation to be the best. I know it’s a team that I am going to do well with and I am very proud to be joining this ambitious and exciting project.
“For the team my work as a domestique will remain my main focus and on a personal level I will be looking to target the World Championship TTT in 2012.”
