Scanlon's ride in Tour de France confirmed

CYCLING: Professional Mark Scanlon will make history this Saturday when he becomes the eighth Irish rider to line out in the Tour de France. The former world junior champion was officially confirmed yesterday by his Ag2R Prévoyance team as part of their line-up for this year's race.

The 23-year-old will become the first Irishman to take part in the three-week event since Stephen Roche in 1993.

"I am delighted to get the chance to ride the Tour," said Scanlon after the announcement. "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 turned professional with the first division French team in 2003 and quickly got into his stride, winning the opening stage of the Tour of Denmark and taking the Irish national championship for the second time.

He also rode strongly in the end-of-season world road race championships in Hamilton, Canada.

This year Scanlon has taken 198 world ranking points and is on the verge of moving into the world's top 200 riders. Last month he won two 1.3-ranked races in Estonia, results which copper-fastened his place on the two-man Irish Olympic road squad. Scanlon was officially chosen on Sunday evening by the Irish selectors for the Athens road race but, like his Tour de France participation, this was widely anticipated beforehand.

Scanlon will join Ag2R Prévoyance team-mates Laurent Brochard, Jaan Kirsipuu, Jean Patrick Nazon, Stephane Goubert, Nicolas Portal, Yuri Krivstov, Mikel Astarloza and Samuel Dumoulin in the Tour line-up.

The Sligoman will have a clear role in the team after the prologue time trial in Liège, Belgium, this Saturday. He will lead out specialist sprinters Kirsipuu or Nazon in the final kilometres of the flat stages and assist climbers Brochard or Goubert when in the mountains. Scanlon will also be aiming to mark breakaway moves. With his strength and strong finish, his goal will be to land a high placing should one of these breaks stay clear.

What's equally important for the him is getting to Paris and building form, strength and experience for the Olympic road race and his future career.