Sky is far from the limit for Yorkshire’s rising road star

Despite the beauty of this wintry scene, it is weather fit only for sitting indoors in front of a log fire.

It is certainly not the kind of weather for a sport that does not involve skis or a bobsleigh.

Yet here is young Yorkshire cyclist Josh Edmondson, pushing down hard on the pedals and climbing high above the town to the tops of the snow-covered crest as if it were a balmy Spring day.

He is only a few days removed from a considerably warmer training camp with his new Sky team-mates in Mallorca, but he is out on this freezing morning because he loves cycling and the British squad is a team where hard work is the bare minimum.

“If only I could I’d train here all the time,” says the 20-year-old. “I love training in Yorkshire.

“But the climbs aren’t as long as they are in Europe, so I need to go away for that ... and for the weather.”

Edmondson is not ploughing a lone path on the A660 on this snowy morning.

He is joined by his elder brother Nathan, himself a racing cyclist, and another companion who is braving the elements, and trying to keep up.

Josh, though, is the one to watch.

Bedecked in enough layers of Sky clothing to delight the marketing managers, he is wrapped as tightly as possible to stave off the cold. The image offers a symbol of the environment he has raced himself into.

Team Sky has gone from a novice operation just a few years ago to the home of the first British Tour de France winner, and one of the cleanest and most enviable squads in the peloton.

Leeds-born Edmondson shot to prominence with a string of attacks in last year’s Tour of Britain. His reward was a neo-pro contract with Dave Brailsford’s team, which effectively bridges the gap between junior and professional cyclists.

Having gone it alone largely over the last two years in Italy – the final one spent living and training with Nathan despite them being on rival teams – he is now cloaked in the warm embrace of Sky.

“Having been over at a few training camps, it’s starting to hit me how great it is to be with Sky,” says Edmondson, who had to overcome an initial bout of being star-struck when he first trained with Bradley Wiggins.

“It’s the premier squad, the biggest team and the most professional team in the world.