Following the team’s fifth Tour de France victory Team Sky are back in action on three fronts this weekend.

The team will be back on British soil at RideLondon on Sunday, after a strong lineup contests the one-day Spanish Classic San Sebastian on Saturday. The week-long Tour of Poland (29 July-4 August) also kicks off on Saturday.

RideLondon is routinely contested by a selection of the world’s best sprinters and Elia Viviani will lead our charge, backed up by a strong British contingent: Owain Doull, Jon Dibben, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Pete Kennaugh and Ian Stannard. Frenchman Kenny Elissonde rounds out the squad for the WorldTour test.

Our San Sebastian lineup is chocked full of climbing talent, including several riders from our Tour de France winning team: Sergio Henao, Michal Kwiatkowski, Mikel Landa and Mikel Nieve. Philip Deignan, David Lopez, Gianni Moscon and Benat Intxausti - back from a long illness layoff - complete one of the strongest eight-man climbing lineups the team could produce.

Wout Poels has overcome his early-season injury problems and starts the second half of his campaign leading our Tour of Poland charge. The Dutchman is targeting our first overall victory in Poland.

Michal Golas and Lukasz Wisniowski will race on home turf in support of Poels, alongside Ian Boswell, Salvatore Puccio, Diego Rosa and sprinter Danny van Poppel.
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Parcours

Eight categorised climbs await on Saturday for San Sebastian across a testing 231 kilometres. It’s one of the most gruelling one day races of the season but is routinely decided by the final climb: the Murgil, a 2.5 kilometre ascent at 9%, which ramps up to 22% in places. After cresting that it’s a seven kilometre blast to the line in San Sebastian. While the pure climbers will need a hefty gap to stay clear on the run to the finish, the puncheurs will need to dig very deep to stick the pace on the Murgil. Prepare for an exciting finale.

British cycling fans are no strangers to the RideLondon route. Used in the 2012 Olympic Games road race, the course starts in central London and sets sail for Surrey’s famous Box Hill. After two laps in the hills the peloton will set its sights on The Mall for what’s likely to be a sprint finish at the end of a fast 183km. British based fans will be able to watch the race live on BBC One.

The Tour of Poland has altered its route slightly in 2017 and, as well as taking out the traditional individual time trial, there’s an onus on shorter, sharper stages to encourage more explosive racing. The sprinters should find joy in the early part of the week, before the GC contenders take over at the top of the standings towards the end, culminating in a thrilling queen stage on the final day in Bukowina.
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Last time out

Geraint Thomas lit up RideLondon in 2016 with a long-range solo attack. ‘G’ hit the gas on the final ascent of Box Hill to distance his breakaway companions 50km from the finish, but the Welshman was cruelly swept up inside the final 5km before a sprint won by Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors) on The Mall.

The Tour of Poland was characterised by torrential rain last year, causing the race’s queen stage to be cancelled, but both Elia Viviani and Michal Kwiatkowski came close to stage wins. Viviani was pipped to the post by Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) on day two, before Kwiatkowski sprinted to third at the end of a lumpy stage four.

In typical fashion the gruelling Murgil decided the destination of the San Sebastian title in 2016. Nicolas Roche hung tough on the climb, but slipped behind towards the top and ended up in the third chase group on the road, behind lone leader and eventual winner Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo). Roche finished ninth, 34 seconds back, with Mikel Nieve just outside the top 20.
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Full lineups

San Sebastian: Philip Deignan, Sergio Henao, Benat Intxausti, Michal Kwiatkowski, Mikel Landa, David Lopez, Gianni Moscon, Mikel Nieve
Tour of Poland: Ian Boswell, Michal Golas, Wout Poels, Salvatore Puccio, Diego Rosa, Danny van Poppel, Lukasz Wisniowski
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RideLondon: Jon Dibben, Owain Doull, Kenny Elissonde, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Pete Kennaugh, Ian Stannard, Elia Viviani

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