Welshman heads into a third year with the WorldTour squad
Image 1 of 5
Team Sky's Owain Doull and Geraint Thomas (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Owain Doull having a better time Down Under than his last trip(Image credit: TDWsport/Immediate Media)
Owain Doull (Team Sky) wore the Kask Vallegro helmet for the hotter stages of the race(Image credit: Josh Evans/Immediate Media)
Owain Doull gives the thumbs up from his hospital bed(Image credit: @owaindoull on Twitter)
Bradley Wiggins (R) and Owain Doull (L) of Team Great Britain celebrates winning the gold medal after the Men's Team Pursuit Fina
After signing with Team Sky for the 2017 season – joining from the Team Wiggins Continental outfit – Owain Doull has spent the past two seasons with the British WorldTour outfit gaining experience in the Classics and working for the team in shorter stage races.
A year-long extension to his contract will see the 25-year-old Welshman continue to focus on one-day races, where he hopes to see further improvement, and possibly earn himself a start at his first Grand Tour.
"My main aim is the Classics again," Doull said on his team's website on Tuesday. "I want to carry on making that progression. I was happy with the difference between my first and second years in the Classics and I think with an extra few per cent next year, being that bit better, will allow me to go that much further into the races. I hope that jump will be a big one."
Doull was part of the gold-medal-winning British team pursuit squad on the track at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, but has knuckled down to a more road-focused career since joining Sky in 2017, having first spent time as a stagiaire with the team at the end of the 2016 season.
However, it wasn't the most auspicious start to racing at WorldTour level in 2017, as Doull fell ill in Australia with a burst appendix ahead of the Tour Down Under in January.
The 2018 season proved to be a lot more fruitful, with a decent Tour Down Under under his belt to start the season, followed by 12th place at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Respectable placings at this year's spring Classics included 11th place at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and 50th place and 49th place at Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix, respectively.
"I found my feet," Doull said of his second season at WorldTour level. "That first year with the team, I felt a little out of my depth. I sometimes felt like I was trying to survive and get through race-to-race.
"This year I've found that I could have an impact on those races, and it's been nice to get back to the level I should have been after the 2016 Olympics.
"I feel like I've learned a lot here," he continued. "It seems like the obvious and natural place to carry on that progression and hopefully next year I'll see a bigger improvement again in the areas and races that I want to do well in."
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
