23-year-old Irish professional cyclist Mark Scanlon will make history on Saturday when he becomes the eighth Irish rider to line out in the Tour de France.
The former world junior champion was this afternoon officially confirmed by his Ag2R Prévoyance team as part of their lineup for this year's race. He will become the first Irishman to take part in the three-week event since Stephen Roche back in 1993.
"I am delighted to get the chance to ride the Tour," said Scanlon today. "I'm very happy to ride but I am going to approach it like any other race, rather than build myself up too much. I'll just take it as it comes and see how I get on."
Scanlon will join Ag2R Proyance team-mates Laurent Brochard, Jaan Kirsipuu, JP Nazon, Stephane Goubert, Nicolas Portal, Yuri Krivstov, Mikel Astarloza and Samuel Dumoulin in the Tour lineup.
Scanlon was officially chosen yesterday evening by the Irish selectors for the Athens road race but, as with his Tour de France participation, his strength this season meant that this was anticipated beforehand.
Filed by Barry J Whyte
