Adam Blythe

Adam Michael Blythe (born 1 October 1989) is an English professional road and track racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI Professional Continental team Aqua Blue Sport. Blythe began racing at a young age and went on to become a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme.

Amateur career

Born in Sheffield, Blythe began cycling at a young age with the Sheffield Phoenix club. Cycling was a family activity, his sister Kimberley Blythe was also fairly successful as a young rider.

Blythe became Derbyshire's Junior Sportsman of the Year in the East Midlands Sports Personality of the Year Awards, 2005.

Blythe left the Academy by mutual consent in February 2008, and went to race in Belgium. He stayed with the ex-professional cyclist, Tim Harris, in Westmeerbeek, near Antwerp. Blythe was awarded a Cycling Time Trials scholarship to enable him to race on the continent and develop further. He raced for the Wielerclub Des Sprinters Malderen which is a feeder club for a professional team.

Professional career

Blythe returned to Belgium to ride for the DAVO squad in 2009, under the tutelage of Kurt Van De Wouwer, a former professional. He had joined pro-tour team Silence–Lotto as a trainee in July 2009, it was announced on 7 September 2009 that he had signed a two-year contract with Silence-Lotto in the wake of a string of good results for the team.

In 2012, Blythe followed his teammate and close friend Philippe Gilbert to the BMC Racing Team. In October 2012, Blythe sprinted his way to victory in the semi-classic Binche–Tournai–Binche, popping out of his teammate's wheel on a cobbled sector with 700 metres (2,300 ft) to go, edging Adrien Petit (Cofidis) and John Degenkolb of Argos–Shimano.

In 2014 Blythe rode for the newly formed British NFTO team. After a very successful year competing on the British domestic scene, Blythe joined Australian team Orica-GreenEDGE for the 2015 season. After one season there in August 2015 it was announced that Blythe would be moving to Tinkoff for the 2016 season, where he will be reunited with directeur sportif Sean Yates, who worked with Blythe during his time with NFTO. He currently lives in Monaco.

With Tinkoff folding at the end of 2016, Blythe will join the Aqua Blue Sport squad for its inaugural season in 2017.

Track

Road

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Giro	WD	WD	-	167	-
Tour	-	-	-	-	-
Vuelta	-	-	-	-	-

WD = Withdrew; In Progress = IP