Team Sky, the new professional team aiming to take Britain's cycling success on the track onto the road was officially launched yesterday with the aim of producing a Tour de France winner within five years.

The squad's bid for glory in the sport's greatest event is being spearheaded by triple Olympic gold medal winner Bradley Wiggins, one of eight Britons on a roster of 26 riders drawn from 12 different countries.

Wiggins, who equalled the best finish by a Briton in the Tour de France with fourth place in the 2009 race, left American team Garmin last month to sign a four-year deal with Sky.

Team Sky is being headed up by David Brailsford, the performance director of British Cycling, with the financial backing provided by the satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

All previous attempts to establish a British-led team capable of competing in the Tour de France have floundered but Brailsford said he was confident Team Sky would quickly establish itself as a major force.

"We started talking a long time ago about setting up a top-level British team but needed to reach a critical mass of riders to achieve it," Brailsford said.

"Now here we are. We're ambitious but the key thing for us is to make sure everything is centred on the rider. We want to treat the riders with dignity and respect so that they can be the best they can be."

Ben Swift was revealed yesterday as the latest addition to the team's roster after the 22-year-old Englishman negotiated his release from Russian team Katusha, for whom he made his professional debut in 2009.