With WorldTour team debut in 2023, Griffin eyes women’s Tour de France

*Mia Griffin in action as a newcomer in 2017 - she's a come a very long way since then. She's now secured a World Tour contract and that means her team will ride Tour de France Femmes Avez Zwift*

By Shane Stokes

Having recently signed a contract with women’s WorldTour squad Israel Premier Tech Roland team, Irish rider Mia Griffin has described the thoughts of riding the Tour de France Femmes as ‘a dream.’

The Kilkenny rider had a superb road and track season in 2022 and while riding the WorldTour will be a step up, she is determined to keep making progress and hopes to be part of the women’s Tour.

“I had a look at the Tour de France Femmes route,” she told stickybottle. “It looks very cool. It's quite cool that it finishes with an individual time trial, I think it will shake things up a bit, hopefully. And four flat stages, two hilly, one mountain top. It looks like it'll be a really, really cool race.

“I would love, love, love to race it, obviously. I will see how I am going throughout the season. It's definitely been talked about within the team already.”

The Tour de France Femmes on La Super Planche des Belles Filles this year, when the event was launched very successfully. Irish riders will hopefully get a start in it sooner rather than later (Photo: Fabien Boukla)

Griffin’s future squad competed in the race this summer, with Russian rider Tamara Dronova-Balabolina finishing a fine 15th overall. She also took top ten finishes on stages one and five.

Griffin was with the IBCT team this season, a setup she has been part of for three years. She had a number of very promising road results in 2022, including her silver medal in the national road race championships, plus fine placings of 10th and 11th on stages of the 2.1-ranked Baloise Ladies Tour in Belgium. She was also 11th in the 1.1-ranked Spar Flanders Diamond Tour.

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As for her track performances, she helped set a new national team pursuit record en route to fifth place in the UCI Track Nations Cup in Glasgow, and landed bronze with Alice Sharpe in the women’s Madison at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada.

In August she was part of the team pursuit squad which finished sixth in the European championships in Munich. Griffin will continue her track ambitions in 2023, but riding well as part of the women’s WorldTour will be a major target, as will be making her team’s selection for the Tour de France Femmes.

Next year’s race will once again be eight days in duration, beginning on July 23rd with a flat 124 stage in and around Clermont-Ferrand. That will be followed by a hilly stage to Mauriac, a flat race to Montignac-Lascaux, a hilly clash en route to Rodez and then, in advance of a tough final weekend stages, two flat races to Albi and Blagnac.

*Griffin sprinting in or the silver medal in the elite women's race at the National Road Championships in Kanturk this year (Photo: Bryan Keane-Inpho)*

The big showdown between the GC riders will come on stage seven’s short but gruelling 90 kilometre race from Lannemezan to the top of the Col du Tourmalet, a 2110-metre high summit which will reveal the strongest climbers in the event. The final standings will then be settled in the concluding 22 kilometre time trial in Pau.

Griffin has kept an eye on the race route and likes what she sees. “Obviously, there was excitement about the fact that the stages were released,” she said. “And I think the team manager was over in Paris for the preview of it. So I think there’s a lot of excitement around it, and it would be it would be a dream to race it. Hopefully, hopefully, I get to do that…it would be absolutely incredible.

“There’s obviously no bigger race. And yeah, to say that you raced in it will be just so incredible…so, so incredible.”

Tour de France Femmes Avez Zwift (July 23rd-30th)