British road race champion Adam Blythe has said that his former Tinkoff team boos Oleg Tinkov will be sorely missed in the sport after his sponsorship and team closes its doors at the end of the year.

“What he said was quite right: the TV rights that he believes in, it should be the way he wants it, but sadly it’s going to take more than one very rich cycling Russian team owner to make that happen,” Blythe, 27, told Cycling Weekly.

“I think Oleg will be missed. He is good for the sport and I think sports needs that – a little bit of personality on the sidelines, someone who can voice their opinion without being worried about the consequences.”

With Blythe off to join new Irish team Aqua Blue, he will no longer be teammates with Peter Sagan. Despite spending just one year together, Blythe had nothing but praise for the Slovak superstar.

“Peter is a different animal,” he says. “You don’t have to do anything for him. You ask him if he wants help and he’ll just say ‘no, I’m fine, stay near me if you can’, but that’s the thing – not many people can! He doesn’t really need help, he’s just Peter. He doesn’t think he’s so much better than anyone or he’s not vocal about how good he is, he’s just down to earth and a great guy.”