Mark Scanlon (born 10 October 1980) is an Irish former professional

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

, who was the first Irishman to ride in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

since 1993. He also competed in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

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 A&G, AG, Ag or ag may refer to Businesses and organizations * A&G Railroad (former reporting mark AG) * Action Group (Nigeria), a political party during the Nigerian First Republic * Aktiengesellschaft, a German type of corporation * Assemblie ...

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

since

Stephen Roche Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only three cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de ...

in 1993. He also represented Ireland in the

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 The 2006 Giro d'Italia was the 89th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in the Belgian city of Seraing with a individual time trial. The race came to a close with a mass-start road stage that stretched from ...

. 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. Scanlon denied them, saying he would like to captain a third division Irish continental team but for the time being, he had taken a "step back from professional cycling."

Major results

;1997 : 2nd Overall Junior Tour of Ireland ::1st Stages 8 & 9 ;1998 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race, UCI World Junior Road Championships : 1st MaillotIrlanda

Road race, National Junior Road Championships : 1st Overall Junior Tour of Ireland ::1st Stages 1, 8 & 9 : 1st Circuit Het Volk juniors ;1999 : 2nd Overall Tour of Ulster : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;2000 : 1st Overall Belfast–Dublin–Belfast ::1st Stages 1 & 2 :

Tour de Hokkaido The Tour de Hokkaido is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Hokkaido, Japan since 1987 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race. The event for 2018 was can ...

::1st Stages 1 & 6 ::1st Points classification : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;2001 : 1st Stage 4 FBD Milk Rás : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships ;2002 : 1st MaillotIrlanda

Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand Prix d'Isbergues is a professional cycle road race held in Isbergues, Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which ...

: 10th

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships ;2003 : 1st MaillotIrlanda

Road race, National Road Championships : 5th Overall

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish multi-day professional road cycling race. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as PostNord Danmark Rundt. The race is sometimes called the Tou ...

::1st Stage 1 : 6th GP Ouest–France ;2004 : 1st Ühispanga Tartu GP : 1st E.O.S GP de Tallinn : 2nd GP de Denain : 4th

Trophée des Grimpeurs The Trophée des Grimpeurs, called Polymultipliée until 1970, was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Val-d'Oise, France, between Argenteuil and Sannois. Between 1980 and 2002 it was a criterium. Since 2005, t ...

;2005 : 1st Stage 4 Circuit des Ardennes : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall

Tour de la Somme The Grand Prix de la Somme (formerly the Tour de la Somme) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually during May in the Somme, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas Fr ...

: 3rd

Tour du Doubs The Tour du Doubs is a single-day road bicycle race, currently held annually in April in the region of Doubs, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour and since 2010 it is part of the French Road Cycling Cu ...

;2006 : 5th

Le Samyn Le Samyn is an annual single-day road bicycle race in Belgium, held usually in late February or early March. The event was created in 1968 as ''Grand Prix de Fayt-le-Franc'', named after the former municipality where it started and finished. In ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Interview in Cyclingnews 2003Interview in Cyclingnews 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlon, Mark 1980 births Living people Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Irish male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Ireland People educated at Summerhill College Sportspeople from County Sligo 21st-century Irish sportsmen