Sky’s the limit for cyclist Deignan

The Fight for Pink starts on Friday with the Team Time Trial around Belfast and Deignan’s Sky train are tipped to bring the Irishman home to wear that famous jersey - the first time an Irishman will have worn pink since Stephen Roche’s overall victory back in 1987.

Deignan, 30, and a noted climber, is probably now at the turning point of his career after many ups, and downs, in the saddle. He had always targeted the Giro, which features nine big mountain climbs and a five summit finishes, but he broke his collarbone during training near his Monaco home base back in February.

But after a quick recovery Deignan, and the rest of the Sky team, have been given free reign to go for glory now that they have no designated GC (general classification) leader with Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins earmarking the Tour de France and original Giro leader Richie Porte pulled out in April due to illness.

Obviously, the Irish Grande Partenza will be something special, not only for Deignan, but also Nicholas Roche and Dan Martin.

“It’ll definitely be special for me being in Ireland for the Giro and I’m sure it’s going to be hectic,” he said. “Maybe we won’t be able to enjoy it too much at the time but looking back, when we’re finished, there’ll be a lot of good memories I’m sure.

“Obviously (with no big name as leader), we won’t be outright favourites now but Sebastián Henao and Pete Kennaugh can maybe do a top 10 and then we have guys like Ben Swift and Edvald Boasson Hagen who can go for stage wins as well.

“Because I’m coming into the race with only five or six days of racing it’ll be about trying to ride through the first week or 10 days and get up to speed. I’ll have no pressure but maybe in the last week I can try to get in the break and maybe try to win a stage,” said Deignan who has had a chequered career once he took up cycling 16 years ago.

“I took up cycling back in 1998 after I saw the Tour de France start in Dublin. I could never have imagined then that I might get the chance to ride a Grand Tour in Ireland as a professional,” said Deignan, who like most you Irish riders nowadays cut their teeth in Belgium before moving to France before signing professional with the AG2R team in 2005.

At the time, drugs were a probably mainstay in the peloton (the main pack), and he didn’t really deliver.

“If I looked back, a lot of guys were cheating at the time,” he told the Sunday Times. “I see the speed of the peleton today compared to when I started. It has slowed down. There are guys who never suffered. They are now!”

Deignan spent time with the American United Healthcare team, where track world champion Martyn Irvine is now, and also raced for Cervélo and RadioShack before Sky saw his work ethic and signed him up last year.

“It’s unbelievable how it has worked out. I went to America a few years ago and didn’t have any real plan or urge to come back to the ProTour. But the way it worked out to join Sky, all the stars just aligned.

“The team have been brilliant and I’ve definitely learned things, just small things with regard training and diet. It’s great to be on the team and a lot of the others seem to copy what Sky are doing as a result of our success.”

Success for Deignan will see his Sky team hopefully carry him home this Friday around Belfast.