Exclusive daily updates from the Tour de France by British Sprinter Daniel McLay of French UCI Pro-Continental team Fortuneo-Vital Concept.
This year we are bringing you, not one, but TWO exclusive daily updates from within the biggest bike race on Earth - Le Tour de France.
In addition to BORA - ARGON 18's General Classification rider Patrick Konrad, we have also secured daily access to British Sprinter Dan McLay. These two UCI Pro-Continental squads bare a number of similarities. Both have designated sprinters and GC riders, and both will be looking to cover all bases in the early days of The Tour, until early-race peloton nerves settle down.
We had a chat to Dan before the Grand Depart in Mont-Saint-Michel where he told us the plan for today was to: "stay at the front, keep out of trouble and hopefully get in a good position to have a go". Dan won't have the luxury of a dedicated sprint train, as his team includes Frenchman Brice Feillu, who has General Classification ambitions. However Dan can expect some help at least from his teammates today as he tries to mix it with the big guns of Cavendish, Kittel and Greipel.
Many of you may have witnessed Dan's mesmerising sprint earlier this year at the GP Denain. He also made it to the top step of the podium in the Grand Prix de la Somme. After being part of British Cycling's Olympic track programme, where he became British Champion at the age of 16, Dan later joined Lotto feeder team. He then moved to the French Bretange-Séché Environment team where he has been for the last two years.
The 24 year old is Kiwi-born, 1M85 (6ft2) in height and weighs-in at 74kg (163lbs). Now based in Girona, he moved to Leicestershire in the UK from New Zealand when he was still a kid.
Not only has Dan represented Great Britain in 2008 European Cyclo-cross Championships and the 2009 Junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, he has also been Junior World Madison Champion (with Simon Yates) in 2010.
Both Dan and Patrick are making their debuts at Le Tour this year. We're really looking forward to receiving their daily insights from within the peloton, and contrasting the experiences they report back to us.
To follow Dan on Twitter: @McLAYDan
To follow Dan on Instagram: @McLAYDan
We are using the hashtags #AllezMcLay and #AllezKoni
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