England cricketer Matt Prior looks at ease as we chat over coffee at a plush London hotel ahead of the launch of his ONE Pro Cycling team.

The project, which is the brainchild of his and businessman Simon Chappell, was officially unveiled yesterday evening, and it is clear this is where his future lies.

The team he has helped assemble will compete at International Cycling Union (UCI) Continental level - two tiers below Team Sky - and his passion for his new venture is evident.

Prior has been out of cricketing action since the defeat to India at Lord's back in July after surgery on an injured Achilles, with the England Cricket Board (ECB) doctors admitting that the prognosis didn't look good.

This however gave him the opportunity to explore and pursue new avenues, and as part of his extensive rehabilitation, he fell in love with the sport of cycling.

"The rehab process has been slow and quite frustrating but I've had ONE Pro Cycling to focus my attention on," he told insidethegames.

"Anyone that's been through a long rehab knows you have your dark days and cycling has been something that has kept me going.

"I can go and do a four-hour bike ride and the rest of me will be in pieces but my Achilles feels great, so I've kept doing that.

"Quite quickly I got the bug and then I've got into it more and more."

Matt Prior (second left) spoke passionately about his newly-formed ONE Pro Cycling team at the launch party in London ©ONE Pro Cycling







It seems now that the South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman has turned what started out as a hobby into a potential career for once he hangs up his gloves, whenever that may be.

But even so, enjoying going out for the occasional bike ride in picturesque scenery is still a long way from even talking about setting up a professional cycling team, let alone launching one.

After conversations in bars and meetings aplenty, the concept was in place and after the soft launch in December, where the team members were announced as was a small list of sponsors, Prior and Chappell's dream became a reality, and they are now ready to enter the daunting world of cycling, armed with hungry, raw young talent and passionate coaching staff.

Ambition is very much a buzzword among the group, and the team are clearly not just looking to make up the numbers.

"When I was 15 years old I never just wanted to be a professional cricketer; I wanted to play for England, to win Ashes series' and to play in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground)," he said.

"You always want to reach the highest level you can and this is no different. If you're a cycling team you want to be involved in the biggest races, like the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, and getting there is our main dream.

"It is for now though a distant goal. We're not sitting here saying that's going to happen in a year because that would be laughable. We know we've got a lot of hard work to do before we can start thinking about that."

For all the excitement and enthusiasm etched all over his face, it may seem to those sceptics among the vast sporting arena that launching a cycling team in this day and age represents a challenge in itself, and not just logistically or financially.

Lance Armstrong's admission to prolonged doping throughout his career ensures cycling will always be tarred with the same brush ©Getty Images



The sport has been plagued with a miasma of doping scandals for decades, culminating in the Lance Armstrong case, which will see cycling forever tarred with the same toxic brush, but Prior didn't shirk the question when asked how his team will combat the issue.

"Every sport has its issues and no sport is without pros and cons," he said.

"It's a big issue but it's very simple for us - we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any of it and all our riders know that.

"One of our big principles is doing things the right way and the guys have bought into that and I can't see us having any problems."

Even when talking about a subject that has caused widespread controversy, he speaks with genuine enthusiasm about all things cycling, but there remains an elephant in the room.

Kevin Pietersen. That book. "The Big Cheese."

In the Pietersen book, the batsman, widely regarded as one of the best this country has ever seen, accused Prior and others of instigating a bullying culture within the England dressing room.

Pietersen claimed Prior walked around calling himself "The Big Cheese," and in a slightly childish manner, he made several sly digs about the wicket-keeper's love of cycling, insinuating that he had no clue about the sport.

It would have been remiss of me not to ask, especially seeing as the story dominated the back-pages and news bulletins for months, however it is a subject he would have discussed a million times since Pietersen released his autobiography in October of last year.

That being said, Prior, who has seven Test match hundreds to his name, was more than willing to answer the question, before it was swiftly swept under the carpet.

"Ultimately it was just sad that one of the most successful periods in English cricket was tarnished," he said.

"But the way I look back on it is that they were the best years of my life in an England cricket shirt and I take a huge amount of pride in playing for my country in that era."

While being the chief executive of a professional cycling team represents something completely different for Prior, who became the first wicket-keeper to hit a century on debut in 2007, he exudes a determination to one day pull on the England test cricket shirt again, and at the age of 32 that isn't beyond all realms of possibility.

He admitted that he must treat both his cricketing career and his cycling venture as "separate entities" and that once he has regained his fitness, claiming back his spot in the England team is his number one priority as he bids to help a cricketing nation exit the doldrums they so often find themselves in.

Matt Prior admitted a return to the England side was "a long way off" but didn't rule out pulling on the shirt again in the future ©Getty Images



His experience says it all as he was part of the team that were ranked on top of the Test rankings in 2011 and he has been involved in no fewer than three Ashes series victories.

It is so easy to forget how scarce those used to be.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I'd have thought anyone slightly mad to suggest that Prior would be launching his own cycling team at 32, and it still feels odd to be talking about his cricket career as if he has already retired.

"I'm so far off playing cricket again and in all honesty it's not really something I've thought about yet, but you never say never and I don't think you've seen the last of me, "Prior added.

"But I think getting back into the England team is going to be as much of a challenge as getting the ONE Pro Cycling team to the Tour de France."

While this may be the case, Prior is not put off by the daunting challenge that lies ahead of his newly-formed team.

Le Grand Fromage looks ready for an assault on Le Grand Tour.

Liam Morgan is a junior reporter for insidethegames. To Follow him on Twitter click here.