Career
His first season as a professional was 2015, racing for French pro-continental and 2014 Tour de France wildcard outfit Bretagne–Séché Environnement. Primarily a sprinter, McLay is also competent in the Flemish racing scene and has a particular affinity to the Northern Classics. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, McLay moved to the United Kingdom as a young infant and was brought up in Leicester.
McLay began cycling competitively at the age of six.
Following his success as under 16 rider at the British National Track Championships, he represented Great Britain at the 2007 European Youth Olympic Festival, competing in the criterium and road race events. He says that he was not very good at sports that require coordination as a school-boy and thus this fuelled his desire to continue competing in cycling.
McLay was selected to represent Britain at the Junior European Cyclo-cross Championships in 2008, where he finished last. He also represented Great Britain at the 2009 Junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
He also came seventh in Tour of Britain stages, a strong showing given that sprinters such as Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Mark Renshaw and Adam Blythe were also competing.
He signed for the Bretagne-Séché Environnement professional continental team for the 2015 season. In the first UCI World Tour race of his career, the 2015 Paris–Nice, McLay came eighth in stage 5. Track
Cyclo-cross
Road.