DORSET racer Daniel Lloyd will fulfil a lifetime ambition when he lines up in the Tour de France tomorrow.

Queens-Park-based Lloyd (Cervelo Test Team) was originally named as Tour reserve, but following team-mate Heinrich Haussler’s withdrawal with a knee injury, the 29-year-old is now set to play a key role as a ‘domestique’, riding for former winner Carlos Sastre.

Lloyd’s role will largely be as a support mechanism to the Spaniard, who took the Tour title in 2008.

Domestiques are often required to break away in order to force other teams to chase and will often find their lead rider racing in their slipstream.

But there could be a chance for Lloyd to go for glory himself, should his Tour standing not threaten the leaders.

Lloyd, speaking ahead of a flight to Belgium for final preparation, told the Echo: “I’m very nervous, but determined to enjoy the experience.

“If the team gives me permission to go with a break, who knows what will happen.”

Lloyd’s CV already boasts a fourth-place finish in his own right during the 2009 Tour of Qatar, as well as a silver medal in the British national road race and top-20 in his native Tour of Britain.

The Tour kicks off tomorrow with an 8.9km prologue time trial through the streets of Rotterdam.