Special ‘Home’ comfort for Swift

The Anston man will be in action on Sunday alongside Team Sky colleagues Alex Dowsett, Jeremy Hunt, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard on the roads of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire.

Last year the 24-year-old finished seventh in the race, and he’ll be hoping to improve on that after last week’s Team GB Olympic ‘long list’ selection boost.

He said: “This is always a special race and I will be giving it my best shot to try and take that jersey home with me.”

Swift was pleased with his performance at the Tour de Suisse last week, where he picked up a second placed finish in stage six and a third placed finish in stage three.

It was something he can build on, he said, as his season continues.

“I really enjoy this race as I love racing in Switzerland.”

“For me this was still a bit of a preparation race with myself coming back from injury and spending the start of the season on the track.”

“So I was very happy with how my legs have come through and the workload I have got out of this race.”

“I also managed to pick a few results along the way, which is always nice. It would have been great to get a win though, but I can be happy and confident heading into the rest of the season.”