Mark Scanlon (cyclist)

Mark Scanlon (born 10 October 1980 in Cranmore, Sligo) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist, who was the first Irishman to ride in the Tour de France since 1993, and took part in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

Mark Scanlon
Personal information
Full nameMark Scanlon
Born (1980-10-10) 10 October 1980
Sligo, Republic of Ireland
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Team information
DisciplineRoad
RoleRetired
Amateur teams
1992–1995Éire Óg CC
1996–1998Sligo CC
1999Rabobank Development
2000CC Etupes
2001VC Nantes 44
2001–2002Vélo-Club La Pomme Marseille
2002AG2R Prévoyance (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2003–2006AG2R Prévoyance
2007Toyota–United
Major wins
National Elite Road Race Champion (2002, 2003)
World Junior Road Race Champion (1998)
National Junior Road Race Champion (1998)

Amateur career

Scanlon came to prominence when he won the junior race at the 1998 world road race championship, on his 18th birthday.

After winning the world championships, Scanlon signed for the Rabobank cycling team's development squad. He failed to break through because of injuries and he left in 2000. He joined CC Etupes in France and rode lesser French races. Linda McCartney Racing Team offered him a contract in 2001 but folded before he joined them. Scanlon continued to ride in France with VC Nantes 44 and then VC La Pomme Marseille. In 2002 he won the Irish road championship.

Professional career

Scanlon signed for AG2R Prévoyance for 2003. He won a stage of that year's Tour of Denmark, leading the race for three days. He won the Irish championship again.

In 2004 Scanlon became the first Irishman in the Tour de France since Stephen Roche in 1993. He also represented Ireland in the 2004 Summer Olympics in the road race on the opening day of the Games. Scanlon was injured for much of 2005 and 2006 but rode the 2006 Giro d'Italia.

He left the AG2R Prévoyance team at the end of 2006, disillusioned with the amount of racing required in the ProTour. At the start of 2007, he rode for the Toyota-United team in the USA. In 2007 there were reports he had retired.[1][2] Scanlon denied them, saying he would like to captain a third division Irish continental team[3] but for the time being, he had taken a "step back from professional cycling."[2]

Major results
1998
2000 – CC Etupes
  • 1st overall, Belfast-Dublin-Belfast (part of Ireland team)
    • 2 stage wins
  • Tour of Hokkaido
    • 1st, Stage 6
    • 1st, Stage 1
    • Points class winner
  • 3rd, Irish Elite Road Race Championship (CN)
2001
2002 – VC La Pomme
2003 – AG2R Prévoyance
2004 – AG2R Prévoyance
2005 – AG2R Prévoyance
2006 – AG2R Prévoyance
  • 5th, Memorial Samy
  • 19th, Omloop Het Volk

References
  1. "Scanlon retires from cycling". rte.ie. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  2. "Former world champion gets ready for the next stage - with no regret". Sligo weekender. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  3. "You can't compete with drug cheats". Sunday tribune. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.