Sky has announced that 2019 will be the final year of its involvement in cycling, after over a decade of support. Team Sky will compete for the last time throughout the 2019 road racing season following its very successful, but at times controversial, history.

Team Sky won the Tour de France with a British cyclist for the first time in 2012 when Sir Bradley Wiggins took the title. Chris Froome won the first of four Tour titles in 2013, and earlier this year Geraint Thomas became the third Briton to win.

However, the team has not been without criticism, in particular, the use of medical exemptions for banned drugs. Whilst the announcement follows the takeover of the organisation by Comcast, the potential reputational damage of the competitive sport seems increasingly at odds with other Sky ‘Bigger Picture’ work, which focuses on the positive impact Sky can have in local communities and the wider world.

Examples of this include Sky Ocean Rescue and Sky Rainforest Rescue, and even its new partnership with the England & Wales Cricket Board includes a commitment to grow participation among children and at the grassroots level.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Group Chief Executive, said: “The end of 2019 is the right time for us to move on as we open a new chapter in Sky’s story and turn our focus to different initiatives including our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign.”

As companies take on-board the message of the wider implications of their work and social responsivities, it is this publication’s pre4diction for 2019 that Sky will not be the last company to switch focus away from ‘trophy’ goals and to more environmental and social targets.

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