Puccio signs three-year extension with Team Sky

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Salvatore Puccio will remain with Team Sky until at least the end of 2021 after signing a new three-year deal with the team. Puccio joins Geraint Thomas, Owain Doull and Egan Bernal in extending his contract with the team.

The 29-year-old Puccio has been with Team Sky since turning professional in 2012 and the new contract will see his tenure at the team reach ten years. Despite spending his entire career so far with one team, Puccio said that he had no desire to look elsewhere for 2019.

“After being a part of Team Sky for seven years I really wanted to remain with this team,” Puccio said in a team press release. “I know everyone, from the staff, the people in the office, to the coaches and the DSs. Right from my first year in the team, I have felt motivated and that is the reason I have signed for three more years. There is no point in looking for something else when I have everything I need here.

“This new deal shows me that the team believes in me and after all these years they still have the confidence in me to give me a three-year contract. I have to say thanks to the team for the opportunity to stay and continue my job as I’ve done in the past.”

Once a promising Classics prospect, Puccio has developed into a reliable domestique during his time at Team Sky. He wore the maglia rosa for one day at the 2013 Giro d’Italia after Sky won the team time trial in Ischia. Puccio has also played a part in Team Sky’s victories at the 2017 Vuelta a Espana and 2018 Giro d’Italia, though he is yet to be selected for the team’s Tour de France line-up. The Italian points to the Grand Tour success as one of the highlights of his time at Team Sky.

“I signed my first contract with the team ahead of the 2012 season. I was still so young as an under-23 rider, and joining a WorldTour team with new technology and new ideas for cycling was really exciting,” said Puccio. “Almost every year I’ve been here the team has won a Grand Tour. One of my best memories so far was last season when we won the Vuelta with Chris. It was something special to start that last stage in Madrid and take the picture of the whole team in a line as winners.