Deignan going well Down Under with Sky

Philip Deignan is continuing to settle into the Sky team, with the Donegal rider performing solidly in the season-opening races in Australia.

Deignan picked up a prime to end up on the podium in Sunday’s People’s Choice Classic in Adelaide, and has been fulfilling team duties in the Santos Tour Down Under.

He finished in the main bunch on stages one and two, then rode for team leader Richie Porte on yesterday’s third stage. Deignan drove the pace inside the final 10km, ramping up the speed on Corkscrew Hill and paving the way for a surge by Porte.

The latter was hoping to break the other favourites, but was himself dropped by the rider who would go on to take the stage and the overall lead, 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team).

Vital to the outcome
Tomorrow's leg to the top of Old Willunga Hill will be vital to the outcome of the race and he will likely be instructed to ride again for Porte.

Deignan is likely to compete in the Giro d’Italia, which begins in Belfast on May 9th. He will be joined there by Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff Saxo) and Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp).

The latter has been training well in advance of the season, racking up seven weeks of continuous training and then taking a break this week.

Meanwhile new Irish pro Sam Bennett is working hard with his NetApp Endura squad at the team training camp in Majorca.

Invitations
The team confirmed it had been given invitations to the Tours of Qatar and Oman, and that Bennett would be part of the line-up for both races.

“We are particularly curious about Sam, as the first race in a new team is always something special,” said general manager Ralph Denk.

The Tour of Qatar begins on February 9th and runs for six days. The Tour of Oman then follows between February 18th and 23rd.

Bennett secured his place on the team after taking a stage win plus two second places in the Tour of Britain last September.