British rider Dan McLay is building himself a bit of a reputation on the continent – last week he was 10th at the Scheldeprijs as Marcel Kittel beat Mark Cavendish for the win – and today the 24-year-old has landed his first victory of 2016 in some style.
Born in New Zealand but raised in Leicester, where his family moved when he was an infant, the Fortuneo-Vital Concept rider somehow threaded himself through rival sprinters to cross the line first, with this overhead video showing just how he did it.
Keep an eye on McLay… #GPDenain pic.twitter.com/68s0q5ITxE
— CyclingHub.tv (@CyclingHubTV) April 14, 2016
McLay is a graduate of British Cycling’s Olympic Academy and in 2010 partnered Simon Yates, now with Orica-GreenEdge, to become junior world Madison champions.
He made his WorldTour debut with French Professional Continental outfit Bretagne- Séché Environnement last year at Paris-Nice, finishing eighth on Stage 5 ahead of riders such as the two top finishers at Milan-San Remo this year, FDJ’s Arnaud Demare and Team Sky’s Ben Swift.
Expect to hear a lot more about him – hopefully including in July, when Fortuneo-Vital Concept, as Bretagne-Séché Environnement is now known, has a wildcard entry to the Tour de France.

7 thoughts on “Video: Britain’s Dan McLay takes stunning win in France”
Wow ! That is nuts, he makes
Wow ! That is nuts, he makes the others look like they are standing still, not going full pelt with 100meters to the line!! He seems to be turning a much larger gear than everyone else, with ease…
Bizzare, amazing but bizarre!
Skillz!
Skillz!
He said in his post race
He said in his post race interview that it was a 20m sprint. He was being pulled through the massed ranks by the air around him until the last, but it took some skill and nerve to carve through… Some win. Well done, son. No rewards for bairns.
I have watched this several
I have watched this several times and can’t decide whether it’s one of the greatest pieces of bike handling I’ve ever seen or a crazy, dangerous sprint by McLay.
NeilG83 wrote:
Definitely the former (or rather definitely not the latter); hope that helps.
The gaps were there, he took
The gaps were there, he took them, great riding.
Turbo!!!!
Turbo!!!!
Wonder what it’s like to have that gas left at the end of 200k!