Tour thrill for rookie in his first year Rohan Dennis. But by Wednesday night, after Dennis and the eight other riders selected as the American Garmin-Sharp team's Tour line-up had flown into Corsica from a training camp in Girona, Spain, the idea of racing in the 3404-kilometre Tour consumed his mind. For the South Australian, his selection in the team was a fitting reward for his strong debut season, especially in the Tour of California in May and then in his first World Tour event, the Criterium du Dauphine in France this month. In the Tour of California, Dennis, 23, impressed with third in the stage-six time trial. In the Criterium du Dauphine, he was second in the stage-four time trial to take the leader's yellow jersey for a day, before finishing eighth overall and as best young rider four days later. His Tour selection also means that 11 Australians will be in the race starting at Porto-Vecchio on Saturday and finishing in Paris on July 21. Especially after a rocky start to the season health wise, it was the last race I expected to be doing and I'm thrilled to be here," Dennis said on Wednesday. The Garmin-Sharp team was only named on Wednesday afternoon after it was cut from a long list of 10 riders. It was the last of the 22 teams to be confirmed. Dennis revealed he was given strong clues about his selection in private. I initially heard I am a possibility after the time trial in the Tour of California. While Dennis will race the Tour to gain experience, his time-trial prowess will be invaluable in next Tuesday's 25-kilometre stage-four team time trial in Nice. Asked what will be his greatest challenge, Dennis said: "I think backing up day after day for longer than one week is going to be the biggest challenge for me. I've shown I can perform over eight days, but any further than that is an unknown.