What this jersey means to me: Ian Stannard Team Sky National Champion

We used to have an internal cycling club at Sky until the business slowly withdrew sponsorship from British Cycling, WIGGINS and eventually… Team Sky. The club slowly lost momentum.

Back in ‘the good old days’, the club had an annual London to Brighton ride (like all London cycling clubs). In 2013 Ian Stannard our National Champion joined us.

Nobody put their nose in the wind that day.

I feel like I have a few things in common with Stannard - he trains hard, trains alone and gets the job done. He is committed and loyal. Unfortunately, that’s where the similarities end - we don’t share the same power output.

He’s been with Team Sky (now Ineos) since day one. He has helped his teammates achieve greatness, and he has achieved greatness himself during his Classic campaigns.

He’s a true hard man of the sport with a masochistic tolerance for pain, he bounced back from a severe back injury - despite the odds.

Remember when the ‘Bear’ took on a pack of wolves at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2015?

 Images: Graham Watson

I would love Stannard to take home a monument like Roubaix, before he throws in the towel.

It was an honour to share the road with you, this jersey reminds me to ‘just get it done’.

Gareth.