Carrick-On-Suir cyclist Sam Bennett will return to the Tour de France this year after a four-year hiatus.
Bennett has been selected for the Decathlon-Ag2r-La Mondiale squad.
He joined the French team at the start of the current season and has had two significant results in their blue kit already.
He picked up the points and GC double at the Tour of Dunkirk, finishing 12th in the points at the Critérium du Dauphiné and 4th at the Région Pays de la Loire Tour.
On the 2020 Tour De France, the 33-year-old won two stages as well as the green jersey.
Since then he moved back to Bora-Hansgrohe, leaving the German team at the end of 2023.
The Tour will start in Florence this year, on June 29th, ending in Nice for the first time.
The traditional finish to the race has always been on the Champs-Élysées but with the Olympics being hosted in Paris this year, the French police service would have been unable to police both events, forcing the iconic race to move it's conclusion south to the seaside resort town.
