Bury cycling brothers Simon and Adam Yates have both signed for Australian outfit Team Orica-GreenEdge ahead of Team Sky Pro Cycling.
Simon shot to prominence by winning the points race at this year’s Track World Championship in Belarus and took two stages of the Tour de l’Avenir last month.
Adam finished second in the l’Avenir, which is open to those aged 23 or younger, and is a testing ground for future cycling talent.
The 21-year-old brothers attracted a number of different offers from the pro peloton including Team Sky but came to a joint conclusion.
“We worked it out together, we weighed up all the options and GreenEdge were the best choice,” Adam Yates told Cycling Weekly.
“It was after Avenir that we started getting contacted. We had offers from FDJ and Lampre, and Sky wanted Simon, but GreenEdge is the best place to go.”
With both impressed by the set-up of the Australian team Adam was not keen to become a workhouse for others at Team Sky.
“If I went to Sky then I’d end up working on the front like a slave, and I’m not a big fan of that!,” he said.
The brothers plan on moving to Girona where numerous other pros already base themselves.
“I’m fed up of training in the cold, so the plan is now that we’re going to get an apartment in Girona.Then we’re laughing then aren’t we!,” Adam continued.
Image courtesy of British Cycling via YouTube , with thanks
