Interview with Cannondale-Garmin rider Ted King

“I was there making everyone look good,” joked Ted King about his role in the Cannondale-Garmin presentation for the 2015 squad. On Wednesday, he and five of his teammates—Andrew Talansky, Ben King, Dan Martin, Davide Formolo and Joe Dombrowski—modelled the new kit and helped to kick off the new season. The racing gets started for King on Jan. 19 at the Tour de San Luis. For riders such as Ryder Hesjedal, who wasn’t on hand at the presentation, things get underway in Australia at the Tour Down Under on Jan. 20.

When King learned about the merger of two WorldTour teams—the Italy-based Cannondale and the U.S.-based Garmin-Sharp—he wasn’t sure the two team cultures would mesh. His concerns, however, were allayed after the squad’s team-building camp in the British Virgin Islands, which didn’t feature a lot of cycling. “We had the best team-building camp down in the BVIs. It was truly incredible,” King said. “At the beginning of the camp, you saw two distinct groups. But over the course of the week, the sailing was just such an incredible experience. Take 20 some-odd guys who are at the top of the world in one capacity—racing a bike—then you put them in an element that they are completely foreign to, which is racing sailboats. It’s really hard to describe. The coming together was one-of-a-kind. By the end of the week, you’re a very tight-knit unit.”

At 31 years old, King is one of the senior members of a team of predominately young riders. Formolo calls King the glue for the new team because the American served on the old Cannondale outfit for four years. His knowledge of Italian will help riders such as Formolo, Alberto Bettiol, Moreno Moser, Alan Marangoni and Davide Villella integrate further with Cannondale-Garmin. Regarding King’s role on the road with the young riders, the Exeter, N.H. native is both modest and realistic. “My job is to usher them around. I’m a domestique. My job is to make them look good. A handful of them will be team captains eventually and some of them will become domestiques as well,” he said.

After the Tour de San Luis, King will be off to the Classics, including Tirreno-Adriatico. He’s also tapped to be part of Cannondale-Garmin Giro d’Italia squad. He’s done the Italian Grand Tour two times already, and is looking forward to a third appearance.