Brailsford beaming after Team Sky debut Down Under

DAVE Brailsford was grinning from ear to ear after Team Sky's explosive arrival into the pro-cycling peleton - the man with the Midas touch appears to be at it again.

HAPPY CHAPS: Dave Brailsford (r) and Sean Yates (l) delighted with Team Sky's debut performance in the Tour Dowen Under (teamsky.com)

New Zealander Greg Henderson followed up victory in the Tour Down Under curtain raiser with three top-five finishes, including a second place behind teammate Chris Sutton in the final stage in Adelaide.

That was good enough to see the Kiwi finish third overall as Brailsford's men collected a general classification debut podium finish.

Victory went to Andre Greipel, dominant throughout, as he collected three stage wins for the all-conquering Columbia-HTC, ensuring Mark Cavendish's absence was barely felt by the US-based team.

Columbia were not the only ones without their star names in South Australia however. Team Sky were without Tour of Britain winner Edvald Boasson Hagen as well as three-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins.

And while Brailsford acknowledged there is still a long way to go before Team Sky can be considered Tour de France contenders, he was all smiles after seeing his side make a flying start to life on the road.

"If I was told we'd end the week here with two wins I would have taken it with both hands," said Brailsford.

"We've learned so much and there is plenty more learning to be done. We've learned that the key is the unity of the team.

"The greatest strength is the while of the team. You win nothing on your own at this level. Columbia showed us that all week but we've taken them on and we've beaten them twice.

"So we're going home on a high. It was a great start and while there is a lot of learning to be done, there are a lot of positives and not many negatives."

Team Sky's arrival certainly caused a stir in the peleton. Brailsford's men were met with jibes in the criterium for wearing skin-tight suits, more often seen in the velodrome than on the road.

Brailsford however, was nonplussed. Indeed at the time he admitted to being pleased Team Sky had ruffled a few feathers and believes rival teams will now sit up and take notice.

"Everyone in the field was in excellent shape," he added. This wasn't a warm up race - the guys were going really, really hard, and a lot of teams had their 'A' teams here.

"We know we've got some work to do, some areas to look at, but I think the guys have done tremendously well."