Named on Bora-Hansgrohe's Tour de France long list, a solid Tour de Suisse performance is likely to seal Jay McCarthy's position in the final nine-man team. Should McCarthy get the call up to the French Grand Tour, he will join 54 other Australians to have achieved the feat.
A professional since 2013, McCarthy made his Grand Tour debut at the 2014 Giro d'Italia, raced the 2015 Vuelta a Espana and returned to the Giro last year. A Tour de France appearance will complete the Grand Tour set.
Back in Europe after a stint of American altitude training in Park City, Utah with Bora teammates, including world champion Peter Sagan, McCarthy explained to Cyclingnews that he feels 2017 is right to make his Tour debut.
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"When we were naming goals for the season I felt that over the last few years I have done the Giro twice and the Vuelta so I have some experience in Grand Tours and this year is probably the first that I felt the Tour could be a possibility for me," McCarthy told Cyclingnews via a phone interview. "I did mention to the team in the [off-season] camp that I would like the opportunity to prepare for maybe starting in July. Hopefully, I can do a good a job [at Tour de Suisse] and be there in July."
The key to McCarthy's Tour de France ambitions will be a good performance at Tour de Suisse in the service of Sagan while taking any opportunities that come his way.
"If I have a good race there then I will possibly be up for my first Tour de France so I'll start with a little bit of extra motivation but we have a job in hand in Tour de Suisse and I feel that we can have good results there," he said. "We take Peter Sagan, who has show in the past that Tour de Suisse is one of his races where he can make a lot of results, and I feel it will be a good week. At the end of the day, I hope to have a nice week and I could be there in July."
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