Ji to become the first Chinese rider in Tour de France

PARIS (Reuters) - Ji Cheng will be the first Chinese rider to take part in the Tour de France after he was picked by his Giant-Shimano team to ride the world's greatest bike race on Wednesday.

Ji, 26, was already the first Chinese rider to participate in a grand tour when he rode the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) in 2012.

The Tour de France starts from Leeds on July 5.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Pritha Sarkar)