Background
Swift was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, he began cycling with Mossley CRT aged 12.
Swift was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, he began cycling with Mossley CRT aged 12.
He represented Great Britain in the 2008 Olympic Games road race and at the UCI Road World Championships where he finished fourth in the under 23 race.
Swift began competing internationally, winning several madison events. Katusha
After the championships he signed a two-year professional contract with the new Russian Team Katusha. In 2009 he was selected to ride the Giro d"Italia.
Swift finished third in the stage 2 of the Giro d"Italia.
"My weakness is in the time trial. I don"t like doing them and I"m not really that good at them.""
Team Sky
Swift joined the newly formed British-based Team Sky in January 2010.
His transfer to Sky from Team Katusha part way through his contract has been instrumental in the Union Cycliste Internationale considering new regulations for the transfer of riders between teams. Swift was selected for the Tour de France ahead of Greg Henderson, and finished 6th on Stage 15.
In 2012 Swift focused on track cycling with a view to representing Great Britain in the 2012 Olympic Games.
He finished second in the points race, and joined forces with Geraint Thomas to take silver in the madison. Swift was scheduled to ride the Giro d"Italia, but was forced to withdraw after suffering a broken shoulder in a crash during a training ride the week before. Although he failed to gain selection from the long list for the British Olympic team, he was picked for the Team Sky squad for the Tour of Poland, winning the second and fifth stages, as well as wearing that Tour"s red-and-white points classification jersey Swift was selected as Sky"s sprinter at the 2012 Vuelta a España, and finished second on Stage 18.
In April 2015, Swift crashed out of the newly created Tour de Yorkshire, injuring his shoulder.
On 19 March 2015, Swift finished second in Milan–San Remo, being narrowly outsrprinted by Arnaud Démare (FDJ).