FORMER local, Tynan Shannon has taken a big step in his cycling career after he earned selection in the VA Pro Racing (Velofit) team to compete at the Tour Down Under festival of cycling, which will take place in Adelaide this week.

Since it was introduced in 1999, the cycling race has grown to be the biggest in the southern hemisphere and attracts world-class riders every year.

Held in Adelaide, it is two weeks of racing action that all elite cyclists mark on their calendar at the start of each year and work hard to prepare for.

Shannon couldn’t wait to test himself against some of the best riders on the world tour over the next few days.

“(I’m) pretty excited to be honest, the nerves haven’t quite come in yet but I’m sure when I’m at the start line, there may be a few,” he said.

“It’s pretty awesome to be racing here in Adelaide, as I’m racing against world tour riders such as Richie Porte and Luke Plapp.”

The 22-year-old received the opportunity to join the Velofit racing team for the Tour Down Under on the back of some strong form at the Cycling National Championships just a couple of weeks ago in Ballarat.

He competed in the Under-23 Men Individual Time Trial, finishing 19th across the 28.6km race, he then finished 35th in the Under-23 Men Road Race which was 139.2km in distance.

“Preparation has been pretty general, as I competed in the nationals last weekend in the time trial and the road race, so I’ve had to keep the training pretty consistent over the year,” Shannon said.

“Velofit came about after nationals where I did some pretty good riding, also my cousin Sam Lane knows a couple of the guys who run the team which helped me get the foot in the door.”

The race is held over four days and Shannon will be competing in the Under-23 Elite Men section, getting on the bike tomorrow night for the criterium, which kicks off his racing schedule for the week.

Stage one will be on Thursday and will see riders take on the 114km stage from Stirling to Lobethal and Friday’s stage two is 112.9km from Mt Lofty to Woodside.

The third and final stage begins at McLaren Vale and finishes with the Willunga Hill climb, which concludes a scenic ride through vineyards and along the coast.

“For me, this race will be all about taking as much in as I can as it’s my first one, I didn’t intend to race it this year but (it was) a goal to reach in the future … the main goal will be to get through, soak the experience up and just enjoy it,” Shannon said.

“Obviously a result would be fantastic, but I’ll be targeting some different races throughout the year as well.”

The now Geelong-based rider said he may have to adjust how he would ride, depending on what was required for the team in a particular situation, but couldn’t wait to embrace the challenge.

Despite being signed with Velofit for only the Tour Down Under at this stage, he hoped to be signed to compete in different events with the team throughout 2022.

Shannon is the only one on his team from Victoria with most of the riders coming from Perth and a few from Tasmania.

“(I’m) not too sure what role I’ll have to play yet, but I may play a part in looking after teammates and trying to provide a bit of cover for them,” he said.

“Hopefully I’ll be riding VA Pro Racing (Velofit) for the rest of the year, a couple races coming up are the tour of Gippsland and the Melbourne to Warrnambool.”

All racing will be streamed on the 7plus app with his first ride, the criterium set to start from 5.05-9pm tomorrow night for Victorian viewers, followed by his stage one ride which is on Thursday from 11.20am-3pm.