A surprise package turned up in the first week of the Tour: a new British sprinter. Daniel McLay’s first six days in the race climaxed with a third place behind Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel in Montauban which had to be categorised as a near-miss. McLay, 24 and largely unheralded before this week, was not far off creating a major surprise.
Before that, McLay looked completely at his ease in the Tour’s hectic finishes, twice finishing ninth, and once seventh. The man himself is not entirely surprised. “I think I believed I had it in the legs anyway, it was just a question of whether or not it would happen. You have to believe you have it in you or you stand no chance. Thursday showed I’m going in the right direction.”
McLay’s debut has outdone Cavendish’s first attempt at the Tour in 2007, and promises much for the future. However, comparisons should go no further: the New Zealand-born 24-year-old has always done things his own way. After a strong junior career in Britain, where he won the national championship, the junior world Madison title, and the Tour of Wales, a stage race which has traditionally brought future champions to the fore, he headed for Belgium to ride for the Lotto under-23 team rather than taking the obvious path into British Cycling’s under-23 academy.
Funded by the Dave Rayner charity – which offers bursaries to young cyclists who wish to race abroad – McLay showed early promise, turning up at one kermesse race and showing up seasoned professionals at the age of 19. His trajectory stalled somewhat after that, meaning that he turned professional only in 2015, for Bretagne-Séché Environnement.
Two victories this season, the GP de Denain and the GP de la Somme, persuaded Fortuneo – Bretagne-Séché under new colours – to gamble on him for the Tour de France, and the video of his victory in Denain shows why; in the final 100 metres he uses his track racing skills to the full to come from nowhere.
With a possible Tour selection at the back of his mind, he travelled to Andorra for altitude training, which is clearly now paying off.
The bunch sprints at the Tour are said to be a level higher than in most races, but McLay believes the increased speed probably suits him, meaning there are fewer riders in the mix. “Every big sprinter is there so that brings the level up. The high speed in the last couple of kilometres means it can be easier to get into position. In the smaller races the speed is a bit lower and you get more people who are able to be there; at the Tour there’s more of a selection, plus all the teams are trying to put one guy in front.”
For Fortuneo, having a sprinter at this level appear from left field is manna from heaven, given last year the biggest headlines the team made on the Tour were when the air conditioning broke down on their team bus. “I think it’s a little bit of a surprise for the team. The other guys can take a bit of confidence from how it went on Thursday, they were with me until three kilometres to go. We’ve got some good riders in the team, and it’s good to have a target on the sprint days. Hopefully people know why we’re there now.”
In the longer term McLay has his eyes on the major one-day Classics such as Paris-Roubaix, while in the medium term he will focus on his sprinting, with two or three more possible sprint finishes next week. Over the weekend, however, a sterner challenge awaits: back-to-back mountain stages where survival will be the priority.
