He won the Worlds under 23 mens road race in 2004, and rode for one year with Fassa Bartolo, Acqua Sapone, and Barloworld before joining the then-Team Columbia in 2008.
Sivtsov, 29, won the overall title at the Tour of Georgia that year, and in 2009 won the eighth stage of the 2009 Giro d'Italia in Bergamo after a 15km solo effort. This year he finished tenth overall in the Giro d'Italia, and won his national time trial title.
“I am very happy to be joining Team Sky and look forward to riding with my new team-mates. The team is a strong one and I know a lot of the guys here already,” he said. “I have ridden in the past with Thomas Löfkvist, Michael Barry, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Michael Rogers and Morris Possoni, and they have all told me how good it is here in terms of the organisation and the way they look after you.
“If I get the chance to show what I can do in the week-long stage races and one of the Grand Tours next year I will be very happy. It was great to finish in the top 10 of the Giro this year, and even though my legs weren’t all that good, I was also able to finish eighth at the Critérium du Dauphiné a few weeks later. Hopefully I will be able to ride even better next year if I have more team-mates there to support me in these types of races.”
Team Sky is looking forward to “a versatile and strong rider who will be a fantastic addition to our team. He showed with his top-10 finish in arguably the hardest ever Giro d’Italia last May what an exciting talent he is,” said team principal Dave Brailsford. “His consistency throughout that race was impressive and he showed why he is so highly regarded within the peloton.
“Kanstantsin is a rider who is also more than happy to dig deep in support of team mates when he is not going for the race win himself. Add to that his strong time trial abilities and you can see how big an asset he will be for Team Sky in 2012.”
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