Featured Stories

Michael Barry Renews with Sky

by John Symon
October 26, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – Rumours have been circulating that Toronto-based road racer Michael Barry was jumping from the British-based Team Sky to ride instead for Canadian-based SpiderTech next season. Barry refuted this rumour yesterday and confirmed that he will ride again for Sky in 2012.

“I’ll be riding for Sky next year. I committed to them for another year early in the 2011 season – it is a team that I really enjoy racing with,” Barry told Pedal. “I think it is fantastic [Mark] Cavendish will be racing with Sky next year. I spent several years with him on HighRoad and know him well. Not only is he the best sprinter in the World but he is also a great leader. With his addition, I’m sure the team will perform on another level next year. ”

“I’ve heard the rumour that I was going to join SpiderTech. Somehow, people thought that I was leaving Sky and made the assumption that I might be riding for SpiderTech. Steve’s [Bauer] program is solid and it will surely develop into the future but I’m very happy to be racing with Sky. ”

We also contacted Steve Bauer who similarly denied the rumour. “We are working on finalizing our roster and still negotiating with riders. I did speak with him [Barry] but he re-signed with Sky.”

Barry also pointed us to a news item on the Team Sky website about his re-signing HERE.

Barry, now 35, is described as an all-rounder/domestique by Wikipedia. Since 1999 he has pedaled for Saturn, U.S. Postal, T-Mobile, HTC Highroad, and now Team Sky. Barry scored a stage win at the 2008 Tour of Missouri, finished 9th in the men’s road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helped Tom Danielson to his 2005 Tour de Georgia victory, was part of the winning team at the 2005 Giro d’Italia (won by Paolo Savoldelli), and scored a stage win at the 2005 Tour of Austria.

Apart from being an accomplished cyclist, Barry has written several books and has written for many publications including the The New York Times and Pedal where has penned a column [Road Rash] for many years. His blog is HERE.





Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Pedal Magazine