Wisniowski signs for Team Sky

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Team Sky has confirmed the signing of Lukasz Wisniowski from Etixx-QuickStep for the 2017 season. The 24-year-old Polish rider joins his fellow countrymen and former Etixx teammates Michal Kwiatkowski and Michal Golas on the Sky roster.

"I'm really happy to be joining Team Sky. It will be nice to be a part of the team in the Belgian Classics and maybe even in the Grand Tours," Wisniowski said of the transfer, which was reported by Cyclingnews earlier in the month.

"It's also great to be joining two fellow Polish riders, Michal Golas and Kwiato. We are friends, we always train together, and it will be nice to be in the same team again. When we were at Etixx we'd train together, and even now that we're on different teams, we still train together most of the time."

A native of Ciechanów, Wisniowski spent two years at the Etixx development team before making the step up to WorldTour level at the outset of the 2015 season, and he was handed some early experience of racing on the cobbles of Flanders.

A strong start to the 2016 season saw Wisniowski place 5th at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and second at the Three Days of West Flanders, and he has been signed with an eye to bolstering Sky's Classics squad. "I'm an all-rounder, but mainly I like the Belgian Classics,” he said. “They are the kind of races that I really like and I can't wait to be a part of Team Sky for those races, and hope I can take a step forward to improve myself for the Classics. I think that's my future."

Wisniowski's arrival at the team was welcomed by his fellow countryman Golas. "Lukasz actually raced with my brother when he was younger so I was aware of him for many years before we became teammates," Golas said. "He's strong on the flat and on cobbles, so he'll be really valuable in both stage races and Classics."