Team Sky were right in the mix in yesterday's world championships time trial when the British team finished 3rd in the battle for the honour of being the world's best. With the Tour of Britain being run concurrently, the team had to omit a couple of strong riders from their roster and so the result came as a positive surprise.

Team Sky is known as one of the strongest squads for team time trials with the squad having taken two wins earlier this season. Despite their previous results, the team wasn't mentioned as one of the major favourites prior to yesterday's world championships in the discipline and team principal Dave Brailsford had made it clear that the Brit didn't plan to give the race too much priority.

Nonetheless, Sky lined up a strong roster with Tour de France winner Chris Froome, Richie Porte, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Vasil Kiriyenka, Geraint Thomas and Edvald Boasson Hagen and that combination proved to be a strong one. The Brits battled against the powerhouses Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Orica-GreenEDGE and finished a comfortable 3rd.

The result - a massive improvement compared to last year's 9th place - came as a surprise for the team.

"For us it was a positive surprise," technical director Carsten Jeppesen told CyclingQuotes.com. "We hadn't expected to be up there and so close to the win as we were. I am really satisfied."

The team could probably have been even closer to the win with a different roster. With the Tour of Britain finishing yesterday, the Brits had to omit a couple of their stronger riders who targeted success in the home race. Especially an in-form Bradley Wiggins who has made plenty of specific time trial training for Wednesday's individual race against the clock would certainly have made a difference.

"Maybe we could have selected a stronger team but we are also riding the Tour of Britain," Jeppesen said. "That' s our home race in which we have to perform well. We've never won it before and so it was important to have a couple of good riders in England that may have been strengthened our roster today. Furthermore, we have three or four guys who were in Canada and still have a bit of jetlag."

"I am really super happy. We hoped to be among the 5-6 best teams. We really didn't expect to take a medal."

The British mission was a successful one as Wiggins sealed his overall win in London on what was a highly successful day for the British super team.