British Cycling's "long-running partnership with Sky will end next year," according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. After eight years in which the popularity of the sport in the U.K. "has risen exponentially off the back of Olympic and road success," a statement due on Wednesday was expected to announce that '16 will be the final year of a "landmark partnership" that began in '08 in the wake of eight Olympic cycling Golds in Beijing. The Sky-British Cycling deal was renewed four years later, just prior to London 2012, where Team GB again won eight Gold medals. Team Sky, the professional road team run by Dave Brailsford and containing many alumni of British Cycling, will be unaffected by the split, "with Brailsford recently outlining details" of a new five-year vision to take the squad up to '20. Whether Team Sky "will still have the pick of the cream of British talent, as they have in the past, remains to be seen." British Cycling will reportedly retain two seats on Team Sky's management board. No "formal reason" has been given for the split, beyond the fact that the relationship has "run its natural course." A Sky spokesperson said, "We are approaching the final year of our existing partnership agreement. After achieving all of our goals, it is the natural time to move on after eight successful years." Sky is "even understood to be helping British Cycling with its search for a new partner." Sky’s original four-year deal with British Cycling was thought to be worth less than £10M, and "is not believed to have increased significantly when it was renewed" (TELEGRAPH, 7/1).
