In her first year at ProContinental level, former Irish road race and TT champion Fiona Mangan will be on the start line of the Tour de France when it gets underway on Saturday.
The Limerick woman has been confirmed as a Tour starter by her French team, Winspace Orange Seal, with the breakthrough news coming just weeks after she took her first international pro victory in Portugal.
Mangan is the second Irish rider to be confirmed for Tour de France 2025 after Mia Griffin's selection was announced by her Roland World Tour team just yesterday. And though no Irish woman has ever ridden the race, it is very likely Ireland will have three riders on the start line this weekend.
UAE Team ADQ had not announced their line-up for the nine-stage race at the time of writing, but Lara Gillespie is expected to be among the riders selected.
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Mangan's selection for the world's biggest race comes just four years after she rode her first ever UCI-ranked race; the one-day Vuelta CV Feminas (1.1) back in 2021. Since then she has ridden for UCI Continental teams IBCT, Soltec Team and Cynisca Cycling.
She moved up a level, to the second tier of pro cycling, for 2025 after signing with French squad Winspace Orange Seal following on from her road race and TT title wins at the National Road Championships in her native Limerick last year.
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And because her current team is a ProConti outfit, that has opened the doors for her to some of the biggest races in the world, including Paris Roubaix, which she rode for the first time earlier this year.
Mangan's season was interrupted by a nasty crash at Omloop Nieuwsblad (1.WWT) in early March. She neeed surgery on a broken hand and collarbone and that serious setback cost her six weeks of racing.
However, she battled back and, despite breaking bones, was on the start line of Paris-Roubaix in mid April, just seven weeks after her crash. Since then she has packed in a lot of racing in Europe, including Volta a Portugal Feminina (2.2) earlier this month where she won a stage.
That victory - in a sprint from the remains of the peloton after a tough finale - was her first international professional win. Added to her being named for the Tour, the win and her French Grand Tour debut represent a huge step forward for her.
However, this Tour will not be her first Grand Tour as Mangan already has a Vuelta appearance under her belt; riding that race back in 2023 for Soltec. Since then she has developed significantly as a rider, and gained a lot of experience. And her recent first victory in Europe means she can face this Tour with added confidence.
More to come.
