Team Sky have lost one of their founder members with confirmation that the sprinter Ben Swift will move next year to the Italian-run team currently known as Lampre-Merida. The team’s new sponsor has yet to be announced but their management company signed an agreement in August with the Chinese company TJ Sport Consultation.

Swift has been at Team Sky since its inception in 2010 and this season the Rotherham-born rider came close to winning the Milan-San Remo one-day Classic, finishing second to the Frenchman Arnaud Démare, improving on his third place in the “Classic of Classics” in 2014. He has also won stages in major events such as the Tour of the Basque Country, Tour of California and Tour Down Under, as well as taking the world scratch race championship on the track in 2012, plus silver medals in the points and Madison.

“It’s a hard, hard decision leaving Sky,” said Swift, who was keen to underline that the parting is entirely amicable. “It’s like leaving my family, but it’s now or never if I want to see how good I can be. I don’t really have anything to lose, and I’d like to publicly thank Sky for what they’ve done for me and British Cycling. It’s going to be a culture change but I’ve been comfortable for the last seven years and I need to go outside my comfort zone.”

Comfortable Swift may have been, but his ability as a sprinter who shines in hilly stage races has sat uneasily with Sky’s constant need to prioritise the overall standings in the majority of the multi‑day events the team enter. “Most of the time, I would be second fiddle at Sky,” Swift said.

“When I have done my job for the team, then I get my opportunity. This team will be giving me more freedom and support. There will be various leaders, but they believe in my ability and I can have riders to support me.”

One early objective will be Milan-San Remo – a race close to the heart of the team’s general manager Giuseppe Saronni, who won it in 1983 – and other hilly Classics. Swift is also hoping for an opportunity at the Tour de France, where Sky’s focus in recent years has been to win overall with Chris Froome.

“My new team will have no out-and-out general classification rider which will open the door a bit. The chance of going there with some freedom would be nonexistent at Sky.”