Team Sky at Het Nieuwsblad - All About the Assist

Team Sky's Michael Barry is a 13-year veteran of the pro circuit and is undeniably one of the most valuable riders in the peloton. As with many cyclists, Michael’s value isn’t always counted by how many podium finishes he has, but rather by how many podium finishes he has helped secure. You can think of Michael Barry as one of the all-time best assist leaders.

The Omloop Het Nieusblad (previously known as Het Volk) is a hard man’s race through the fields of Flanders in western Belgium and this year's classic was no different than many of Michael’s other success stories. His hard working efforts paid off with two of his teammates finishing on the podium: Juan Antonio Flecha in second and Mathew Hayman in third.

Quick Race Stats:

• 203km Race Distance


• 5:29 Michael’s finish Time


• 23mph avg speed


• 252avg watts for the entire race (which felt like 311w as measured in his normalized power reading)


• 60^th place at 10:41

You can read the full race recap (including commentary and file analysis by Dirk Friel), listen to an interview with Michael and view/download his actual race file from Het Nieuwsblad on the TrainingPeaks Team Sky homepage. Make sure to bookmark this site --- we'll be bringing you race files from members of Team Sky throughout the season.