Mark Scanlon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Scanlon
Personal information
Full name Mark Scanlon
Date of birth October 10, 1980 (1980-10-10) (age 27)
Country Flag of Ireland Ireland
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9+12 in)
Weight 79 kg (170 lb)
Team information
Discipline Road
Role Retired
Amateur team(s)
1992–1995
1996–1998
1999
2000
2001
2001–2002
Éire Óg CC
Sligo CC
Rabobank Development
CC Etupes
VC Nantes 44
VC La Pomme
Professional team(s)
2003–2006
2007
AG2R Prévoyance
Toyota-United
Major wins
Flag of Ireland Ireland Road Race champion (2002, 2003)
Infobox last updated on:
April 11, 2008

Mark Scanlon (born October 10, 1980 in Cranmore, Sligo) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. Scanlon first came to prominence when he won the Junior race at the 1998 World Cycling Championship, on his 18th birthday.

Contents

[edit] Amateur career

After winning the Rainbow jersey Scanlon signed for the Rabobank cycling team's development squad. He failed to make the breakthrough expected though, as injuries blighted his early career and he was released in 2000. He signed with French team CC Etupes and rode strongly is some of the lesser French races. He was offered contract by the Linda McCartney Racing Team in 2001 but the team folded before he joined them. Scanlon continued to ride in France with first VC Nantes 44 and then VC La Pomme Marseille. In 2002 he won the Irish Road Race championship for the first time.

[edit] Professional career

Scanlon signed for AG2R Prévoyance team for the 2003 season. The highlight of his first season was winning a stage in the Tour of Denmark and wearing the leader's jersey for 3 days. He also retained his Irish national championship. In 2004 Scanlon became the first Irish cyclist to ride in the Tour de France since the great Stephen Roche in 1993. He was also represented Ireland in the 2004 Summer Olympics in the road race on the opening day of competition of the games. Scanlon was once again plagued by injuries for much of the 2005 and 2006 season but he did ride in the 2006 Giro d'Italia. He will leave the AG2R Prévoyance team at the end of 2006. He has expressed some disillusionment with the amount of racing required in the ProTour. At the start of the 2007 season, he switched to the US circuit and rode for the Toyota-United team. During the summer of 2007, there were reports that Scanlon had retired.[1] It appeared that Scanlon had left the Toyota United team.[2] Scanlon denied that he had retired, saying that 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]

[edit] Major achievements

2005 – AG2R Prévoyance
Circuit des Ardennes, Stage 4
2004 – AG2R Prévoyance
89th, overall Tour de France
First Grand Tour completed
Young rider: 14th
1st, Ühispanga Tartu GP
1st, E.O.S GP de Tallinn
Represented Ireland at Athens Olympics Road Race
2003 – AG2R Prévoyance
1st, Flag of Ireland Ireland National Road Race Championship
5th, overall Tour of Denmark
Stage win
Points: 4th
Young rider: 3rd
held yellow & points jersey
2002 – VC La Pomme
1st, Flag of Ireland Ireland National Road Race Championship
1998
1st, World Junior Road Race Championship

[edit] References

[edit] External links