When Ben Swift left Team Sky at the end of 2016, the principal reason for joining UAE-Team Emirates was to have more opportunities to race for himself in cycling’s biggest races.
On Saturday, Swift will have his first taste of leadership in Milan-San Remo, a race in which he has finished twice on the podium in the last three years. The 29-year-old may not be an out-and-out favourite to win but his pedigree in the race is undoubted and, for the first time in his career, a team has come out and backed him as its leader.
“I was brought into this team to perform in San Remo, what with the results that I’ve had there over the years,” Swift told Cyclingnews at Paris-Nice, his final tune-up race before Saturday’s main event.
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“We’ve a nice spread-out team and it’s a bit different to Team Sky, with a lot more opportunities and freedom. We don’t have to sit on the front and ride the whole time.”
That point was obvious during Paris-Nice, as Swift watched on while his ex-teammates toiled on the front of the peloton to help set up Sergio Henao for the overall victory. Twelve months ago, Swift would have been asked to perform a similar role, but this time around he could pick and choose his moments in the ‘Race to the Sun’. Unfortunately, not too many of the stages suited his style, although he did pop up with two top-15 finishes and a day in a break.
“I’ve had some mixed results at this race,” he admitted. “The first few days were quite hard and I was a bit unlucky with having a puncture on the first day. That dropped me out of the first group and there’s not much that you can do in that situation. I was in the mix the day after but the general condition is pretty good.
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