Cycling: Peter Kennaugh to leave Team Sky for Germany's Bora-Hansgrohe
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Great Britain's Peter Kennaugh celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the end of the 168 km seventh stage of the 69th edition of the Criterium du Dauphine cycling race on June 10, 2017.
PHOTO: AFP
(REUTERS) - Two-time British road champion Peter Kennaugh will leave Team Sky at the end of the season after signing a two-year contract with German team Bora-Hansgrohe.
Isle of Man-born Kennaugh, who turned professional in Team Sky's debut season in 2010, has had several successful years at the British team, and recently won a stage at the Criterium du Dauphine.
The 28-year-old, who also tasted Olympic success as part of Britain's gold medal-winning pursuit team at the 2012 London Games, said he had to move because he needed fresh motivation.
"I wanted a change, some new motivation and a different experience. I felt that if I was honest with myself and didn't leave Team Sky in order to explore other areas, then I would have looked back at my career and regretted it," he told cyclingnews.com.
"I had to do it. I've been with Team Sky since 2010 and over the last two contract negotiations, I'd thought about it but never really seriously considered leaving, but there were a couple of factors that decided it in the end."
He joins current world champion Peter Sagan at Bora, and is looking forward to having to adapt to new tactics.
The focus at Team Sky is general classification (GC) and especially the Tour de France.
Bora, on the other hand, switches between riding for Sagan in sprints and one-day races, and supporting Pole Rafal Majka in stage races.
"At Sky, sometimes it's more of a GC, conservative style of racing and I've appreciated that, but I'm going to team that has a different style," Kennaugh added.
"I don't think I was getting stale at Team Sky, but a fresh way of doing things will just keep me fresh. Maybe part of me felt that I was getting too relaxed. It's exciting times."