Adelaide's Rohan Dennis closes in on a Tour de France berth

ADELAIDE rookie professional Rohan Dennis is closing in on a shock start in next week's Tour de France.

Rohan Dennis

ADELAIDE rookie professional Rohan Dennis is closing in on a shock start in next week's Tour de France.

The 23-year-old, who is in his first WorldTour season with US team Garmin-Sharp, expects to know within days whether he will be on the starting line for the 100th edition of the Tour in Corsica next weekend.

It would cap an extraordinary season for the Olympic silver medallist and former track world champion, who only left the velodrome to focus on the road this season.

If he gets the call-up, Dennis would join Adelaide veteran Stuart O'Grady as the two South Australians in the world's greatest cycling race from June 29 to July 21.

Dennis has been training in Sierra Nevada in the US since his stunning ride in the Criterium du Dauphine - an official Tour de France warm-up event - where he wore the leader's yellow jersey and won the race's best young rider.

"I spoke to my coach and he said `let's train as if you're going to the Tour' and every time I've felt like crap on the bike I've tried to remember that hopefully it will pay off in a couple of weeks," Dennis told The Advertiser this week.

"I was always told there was pretty well no chance of me riding a Grand Tour this year, so to even be considered ... for the Tour is a pretty big honour. 

Dennis' performance in the Dauphine this month prompted team boss Jonathan Vaughters to declare him in the mix for the Tour.

"He is in serious consideration for the Tour, but without pressure to finish," Vaughters said.

"He'd do maybe 10 days, maybe two weeks."

Dennis' selection could hinge on whether Vaughters sees him as a crucial cog in Garmin-Sharp's team time trial on Stage 4 and whether he could inflict damage in the 33km individual time trial on Stage 11.