Pauwels, Barry to join Team Sky

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Belgium's Serge Pauwels and Canada's Michael Barry will join Britain's Team Sky for next season, according to sources close to the team. The pair are the latest riders to be linked to the new British ProTour team, in addition to Australia's Chris Sutton.

Pauwels, 25, turned professional in 2006 with Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen and remained on the team through 2008. This season, the Belgian rode for UCI Pro Continental team Cervélo TestTeam. He caught the attention of the cycling world at this year's Giro d'Italia, where he proved to be a valuable mountain domestique for captain Carlos Sastre.

Canadian Michael Barry was not confirmed as part of the Columbia-HTC team's 2010 roster in September. He announced after the Tour of Missouri that he would change teams in 2010, and had been heavily rumoured to be moving across to Team Sky.

Barry, 33, turned professional in 1999 with Saturn and remained on the American team through 2001. From 2002 to 2006 the Canadian rode for the US Postal/Discovery Channel squad and then moved to T-Mobile in 2007. For 2008 and 2009 Barry rode for American ProTour team Columbia-HTC.

The veteran Canadian pro won a stage in the 2008 Tour of Missouri and the 2005 Tour of Austria. Barry has also been part of winning team time trial squads at the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España, Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Romandie. He finished seventh in the 2003 world road championships at Hamilton, Ontario in his home country.

Throughout his career Barry's been known as a strong domestique and was part of Paolo Savoldelli's 2005 Giro d'Italia win and Roberto Heras's 2003 Vuelta a España victory.

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