# Daniel McLay

Daniel "Dan" McLay (born 3 January 1992) is a British racing cyclist, competing in road, track and cyclo-cross, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike. His first season as a professional was 2015, racing for French pro-continental and 2014 Tour de France wildcard outfit Bretagne–Séché Environnement. Primarily a sprinter, McLay is also competent in the Flemish racing scene and has a particular affinity to the Northern Classics. He was named in the start list for the 2016 Tour de France.

## Career
### Junior career

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, McLay moved to the United Kingdom as an infant and was brought up in Leicester. McLay began cycling competitively at the age of six. Following his success as under 16 rider at the British National Track Championships, he represented Great Britain at the 2007 European Youth Olympic Festival, competing in the criterium and road race events. He says that he was not very good at sports that require coordination as a school-boy and thus this fuelled his desire to continue competing in cycling.
McLay was selected to represent Britain at the Junior European Cyclo-cross Championships in 2008, where he finished last.
In 2009, McLay became a member of British Cycling's Olympic Academy. McLay went on to win the bronze medal in the Madison at the UEC European Track Championships with partner Sam Harrison. He also represented Great Britain at the 2009 Junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
In 2010 he became World Champion in the Junior World Madison Track Championships, with Simon Yates.
In 2014 he won a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir (English: The Tour of the Future). He also came seventh in Tour of Britain stages, a strong showing given that sprinters such as Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Mark Renshaw and Adam Blythe were also competing, although he said that seventh was not a representation of what he could have achieved.

### Professional career
#### Bretagne–Séché Environnement (2015–17)

He signed for the Bretagne–Séché Environnement professional continental team for the 2015 season. He won his first professional victory in Stage 3 of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. In the first UCI World Tour race of his career, Paris–Nice, McLay came eighth in stage 5.
His second professional win came at the 2016 Grand Prix de Denain, a French 1.HC race, weaving his way from distance through the centre of the bunch to win it on the line. His second win came a month later in the Grand Prix de la Somme, beating Nacer Bouhanni into 2nd place. Due to those two wins, McLay was selected to take part in his first Tour de France, and finished in the Top 10 in his first sprint finish. After another two top 10 finishes, McLay finished on the podium on Stage 6 behind Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel.
In October 2017 McLay won the Tour de l'Eurométropole, pipping Anthony Turgis to the line after Turgis started his celebration early following a solo attack from the front group.

#### EF Education First–Drapac (2018–19)

After his Tour de l'Eurométropole win, it was announced that McLay would join the WorldTour peloton by signing with EF Education First–Drapac p/b Cannondale for the 2018 season.

## Major results
### Road
#### 2010

    National Junior Championships
       1st Road race
       2nd Time trial
    1st Overall Junior Tour of Wales
    2nd Paris–Roubaix Juniors
    6th Overall Driedaagse van Axel
       1st Stage 1

#### 2011

    1st Grand Prix de Waregem
    6th Dorpenomloop Rucphen

#### 2012

    1st De Drie Zustersteden
    1st Grand Prix José Dubois
    2nd Kernen Omloop Echt-Susteren

#### 2013

    2nd Dorpenomloop Rucphen
    4th Time trial, National Under-23 Championships
    4th Paris–Chauny
    5th Ster van Zwolle
    5th Textielprijs Vichte
    6th Overall Paris–Arras Tour

#### 2014

    1st Overall Ronde van Oost-Vlaanderen
       1st Stage 2
    Tour de Normandie
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 3
    1st Stage 3 Tour de l'Avenir
    2nd Dorpenomloop Rucphen
    3rd Time trial, National Under-23 Championships
    4th Overall Paris–Arras Tour
       1st Stage 3
    5th Grand Prix de la ville de Pérenchies
    7th Paris–Tours Espoirs
    10th Beaumont Trophy

#### 2015 (1 pro win)

    1st Otley Grand Prix
    1st Stage 3 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
    6th Brussels Cycling Classic
    7th Paris–Bourges
    8th Overall Tour de Picardie
    8th Velothon Berlin

#### 2016 (2)

    1st Grand Prix de Denain
    1st Grand Prix de la Somme
    4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
    5th Overall Tour de Picardie
    10th Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
    10th Scheldeprijs

#### 2017 (2)

    1st Tour de l'Eurométropole
    1st Trofeo Playa de Palma
    3rd Trofeo Felanitx–Ses Salines–Campos–Porreres

#### 2018 (1)

    1st Stage 4 Circuit de la Sarthe

#### 2019 (2)

    1st Stage 1 Herald Sun Tour
    1st Stage 2 Tour of Guangxi

#### 2020 (2)

    Volta a Portugal
       1st Stages 5 & 6
    8th Bretagne Classic

#### 2021

    2nd Ronde van Limburg
    6th Paris–Bourges
    7th Elfstedenronde
    8th Overall Boucles de la Mayenne
    9th Circuit de Wallonie

#### 2022

    4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    4th Heistse Pijl
    7th Scheldeprijs

#### 2023

    4th Paris–Chauny
    10th Gent–Wevelgem

#### 2024

    10th Surf Coast Classic

#### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Giro d'Italia | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career | Has not contested during his career |
| Tour de France | 170 | DNF | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | 136 |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | 120 | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |

### Track
#### 2008

    1st Scratch, National Junior Championships

#### 2009

    National Junior Championships
       1st Madison (with George Atkins)
       1st Points race
       2nd Kilo
       3rd Individual pursuit
       3rd Scratch
    3rd Madison, UEC European Junior Championships (with Sam Harrison)

#### 2010

    UCI World Junior Championships
       1st Madison (with Simon Yates)
       2nd Team pursuit
    National Junior Championships
       1st Scratch
       2nd Individual pursuit
    2nd Madison, National Championships (with Sam Harrison)

### Cyclo-cross
#### 2008–2009

    3rd National Junior Championships

#### 2009–2010

    3rd Junior Bredene