Daniel McLay (Fortuneo Vital Concept)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Daniel McLay (Fortuneo Vital Concept)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Daniel McLay (Fortuneo Vital Concept) with Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) and Kenny Dehaes (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Daniel McLay (Fortuneo Vital Concept)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Dan Mclay of Great Britain during Stage Three of the 2014 Tour de Avenir in Montrond les Bains.
Dan McLay (Team Great Britain)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Send your CVs and covering letters to Fortuneo-Vital Concept, care of Daniel McLay, who is on the lookout for a thoroughbred lead-out man for next season.
McLay, 24, has enjoyed a breakout season with two important victories in the GP de Denain and the Grand Prix de la Somme. He backed that up with seven top 10 stage finishes during his Tour de France debut. He is currently racing at the Tour of Britain, where he finished second on stage 4.
With reputation enhanced from the Tour, McLay is hoping that his French team will dip into the transfer market and sign an experienced lead-out man.
"I hope so and that's still in discussion at the moment. We're looking for a last guy," McLay told Cyclingnews at the Tour of Britain.
"A true last man. That's what we're looking for. I think there are a few out there and it's just whether the team will take them or not."
Fortuneo-Vital Concept race a tier down from WorldTour level but have already strengthened their numbers with the signings of Arnold Jeannesson, Élie Gesbert, Laurent Pichon, Gianni Meersman, Maxime Bouet, and Romain Hardy. For McLay, just one more piece in the jigsaw is needed.
"This year it [the lead-out] varied a bit. This was the first year that I was performing on that level. In the Tour, I was typically getting to a couple of kilometres before the line and then I'm by myself. One day they were there pretty late but I stuffed it up that time."
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McLay's second half of the season continues at the Tour of Britain and then builds up with number of one-day races. He is looking to secure a slot on Great Britain's nine-man team for the World Championships, where Mark Cavendish will be targeting his second title on the road.
"I hope that I can go. I think that it will be about looking after Cavendish and that it comes back together for a sprint.
"I don't know about roles. We've not had the selection yet, let alone the team talks. Hopefully it would involve something in the back end of the race but we'll see.
"I think I've got the capacity do something in the finish and have experience with positioning. Ultimately Cavendish knows what he's doing and I guess it will be about fitting in with how he wants the team to be."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
