Tour de France: Rider profile - Scott Thwaites

Take a look at one of Yorkshire’s hopefuls for a place on the start line of the Tour de France in his home county - Scott Thwaites.

Name: Scott Thwaites

Born: Burley-in-Wharfedale

Age: 23

Team: NetApp Endura

Honours: Two-time Otley Grand prix winner; U23 national champion on road and mountain bike.

He says: “The Tour coming to Yorkshire is massive. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to be at the level where I have a chance of being involved is incredible.

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“It’s come when I’m still young and it’s going to be a big ask, but it has given me that added motivation to work really hard this year.

“A couple of the world tour teams have lost sponsorship and Europcar, who are traditionally a rival of ours for the wild card spot have moved up, so that’s opened an opportunity for us.

“We showed in the Vuelta a Espana that we can ride a grand tour, win a stage, be competitive and get a guy (Leopold Konig) in the general classification hunt, so our profile has certainly been raised.

“We feel we deserve the chance.

“On a personal level, I want to win races. If I get the chance to ride the bigger races, hopefully, I can show what I can do.

“That’s why I’m training so hard in the Dales - because as well as there being no better place to train when the weather is good - I know I’ve got to get into the best condition that I can.”