Great Britain have announced their provisional six-man team for the forthcoming Tour de l’Avenir, the prestigious U23 stage race in France which starts on August 18.
Scott Davies, James Knox and Oliver Wood (Team Wiggins), Jacob Hennessy (GB Cycling Academy), Chris Lawless (Axeon Hagens Berman) and Mark Stewart (An Post-Chain Reaction) are the six riders who make up the team.
Lawless has been in great form this season, winning the ZLM Tour and a stage of the Tour de Beauce, in addition to finishing 2nd at the British National Road Race Championships.
He has also achieved numerous other good results including 2nd places on stages of the Volta ao Alentejo (2.1), Le Triptyque des Monts et Chateaux (2.2) and more recently at The Larry H.Miller Tour of Utah (2.HC).
Scott Davies has also achieved some great results this season, finishing 4th overall at the Giro Ciclistico d’Italia (2.2U) and 5th overall at the Tour Alsace (2.2). Davies’ Team Wiggins team-mate James Knox finished just one place behind on GC at Alsace and has also had some big results this year including 2nd at U23 Liège – Bastogne – Liège.
Mark Stewart meanwhile has impressed on the track, winning the Individual pursuit at the European Under–23 Track Championships.
The 1201-kilometre Tour de l’Avenir starts in Loudéac in Brittany and travels across the country, finishing with two mountainous stages in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region.
Teams from South Africa, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, United States, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland will also line up in addition to the French regional teams Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Brittany.
Stages
Fri 18 August LoudéacLoudéac
Sat 19 August Inzinzac-LochristBignan
Sun 20 August MissillacChâteaubriant
Mon 21 August DervalSaumur
Tue 22 August Montreuil-BellayAmboise
Wed 23 August MontrichardSt-Amand-Montrond
Thu 24 August REST
Fri 25 August St-Gervais Mont-BlancHauteluce-Les Saisies
Sat 26 August AlbertvilleSte-Foy Tarentaise
Sun 27 August Bourg-St-MauriceAlbiez-Montrond
Is the tour on TV??
Hardly Team Sky is it ?