Matt Prior launches ONE Pro Cycling team

“We are hugely ambitious. Whatever sport you play, you always want to play at the highest level and in cycling that means the WorldTour, it means the Tour de France, it means the Giro d’Italia,” he said.

“That said, it is right to start at Continental level and build the team up. There is a long way to go and a lot of things will need to fall into place,” he added.

Prior said that he had invested some money on the team but also said that the actual financial fact would be clear during the team’s official launch in February. The partners and sponsor would also be announced on the same day.

“Basically it’s all come together in the last three months,” he said.

“We don’t want to rush into it. There is a huge amount of work involved in setting up a team. We’re hoping to do some things differently, as you will see at the official launch in February when we will announce our sponsors and partners. But we will definitely still be called ONE Pro Cycling. The important thing, though, is that we have a great-looking team for next year. We have top riders and staff. We want to create a team the UK public can be proud of,” he added.

Welsh experienced pro and Elite Road Series winner, Yanto Barker would be captaining his team and Matt Wilson, coach of the British Cycling Olympic Development would be the lead director.

“We can’t kid ourselves that we will be competing against the likes of Team Sky straight away. We just have to concentrate on the job in hand, which is establishing ourselves. We don’t want to get caught up in comparing ourselves with other teams. But I think we can do something pretty special,” said Prior.

The new Cervelo S5 bike would be the official bike of ONE team and Prior was excited about it. “I know from my cricket how important it is to have the right equipment. We’re all sticklers for having the right stuff. And that is just cricket. With cycling it is absolutely vital to performance,” he said.

“We want to give our guys the very best opportunity so it’s all those buzzwords: marginal gains, one per centers. We’re even going to give our guys media training. Anything that can make a difference,” he added.

Prior is currently recovering from Achilles Tendon operation and expects to be back by February next year. “It ties in pretty well with my rehab. The reason I got into cycling in the first place was because of my Achilles,” he said.

“Going forward I will be hugely involved. It’s the same with everything I do, I want to win, but I am aware of my limitations. There is nothing worse than a club cricketer on a Saturday claiming to know how to win a Test match. And it’s the same here. I’m a keen cyclist but I’m not claiming to know how to win bike races. That is why we have Matt Winston, Yanto Barker and all these guys,” he added.

“I’m sure I’ll drag a few of the England lads along. I’m dying to see a few of the boys in Lycra. Basically I’ve been on my tod up until now but Joe Root is getting into it,” he also said.