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The wait had been long and painful but as Team Sky's talented young Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen celebrated his team's first ever Tour de France stage in Lisieux, it suddenly placed the British outfit in a very different place in the world cycling scene.New to the sport in 2010, Sky's big budget and bold pronouncements won them few friends in the peloton and, more importantly, won them few races that really mattered.
At the Tour, where British Olympic hero Bradley Wiggins was lauded as a potential winner, Sky were particularly disappointing, failing to win a stage or even place their star man in the top 20 overall.
The failure forced a major re-think from Sky, both in their approach behind the scenes and on the road and a more humble group has enjoyed far more success so far in 2011.
That culminated in a superb uphill sprint win for Boasson Hagen on Thursday, a victory set up selflessly by Geraint Thomas, the Welshman and Olympic team pursuit champion who is wearing the white jersey for best young rider at the Tour and who is emerging as the unsung hero of the race.
For all his natural talent, Boasson Hagen's development has been hampered by injury and illness and his post-race interviews also reinforced the view in the sport that, for all his brilliance, the taciturn Norwegian is perhaps not cycling's liveliest character.
However, Sky Team Principal Dave Brailsford had no doubt of the importance carried by Thursdays events and the stage six victory, his team's first in 27 attempts.
"We had a tough Tour last year, everybody knows that," said Brailsford. "But we wanted to come here to get a stage early doors to take the pressure off Bradley. We wanted it in its own right, the guys deserve it, they're good enough to win stages, particularly with Edvald and Geraint here. If they keep knocking on the door as they have been, eventually it's going to open."
The first week efforts of Boasson Hagen and Thomas mean that with one victory on the scoreboard, Team Sky can now relax - relatively speaking - and save their energies for the high mountains where they will need to help Wiggins if he is to fulfil his aim of a top-three finish on the overall (GC) standings.
"It couldn't be a better situation for us," added Brailsford. "Now we can focus on GC, we can relax. Brad and the team can relax and can really look forward to getting into the mountains."
Sky's success in the team time trial last Sunday also mean that the current overall standings have a very healthy look about them with three of their riders - Wiggins, Thomas and Boasson Hagen - inside the top eight and within 12 seconds of race leader Thor Hushovd.
With Garmin-Cervelo having won that team time trial, their veteran David Millar is the highest placed Brit on GC in fourth - meaning three British riders currently stand in the top seven on GC.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/08/tour-de-france-boasson-hagens-win-now-means-skys-the-limit-fo/
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