The three Irish riders who made history at the Tour de France today - Kilkenny's Mia Griffin, Limerick's Fiona Mangan and Wicklow's Lara Gillespie - have made it through a nervy opening stage unscatched despite several heavy crashes.
Gillespie was planted on the front of the peloton for much of the stage, ensuring her UAE Team ADQ team leaders - including stage and GC hopeful Elisa Longo Borghini - were protected. She filled that role until the riders reached the finishing circuit in Plumelec. At that point, the Irish woman's team mates took over those duties.
And while a number of riders from Mangan's Winspace Orange Seal team crashed on the finishing circuit, the Irish woman managed to avoid the chaos. Griffin (Roland Le Dévoluy) also safely came through, ready to face tomorrow's 110.4km stage 2 from Brest to Quimper.
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The Irish trio are the first Irish women to ever ride the Tour. They will face off over the next eight stages against the best in the world on the hardest terrain they have ever raced on, including a summit finish on Col de la Madeleine.
Today, the undulating finishing circuit produced a war of attrition that trimmed down the field long before it hit the final climb to the finish line. And that incline produced some surprising time gaps, with some big names already on the back foot.
World champion Lotte Kopecky was back in 43rd, at 1:04, despite her SD Worx-Protime team mates putting all their efforts into working for her. That included the world's best sprinter, Lorena Wiebes, chasing down moves in the final because the team favoured Kopecky for the uphill finish.
After 78.8km of racing from Vannes to Plumelec, with 926m of climbing, Mangan finished in 74th at 4:06 while Gillespie and Griffin were both in the same group - finishing 126th and 130th - at 7:40.
Up front, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was effectively on lead-out duties on the final climb for her Visma-Lease a Bike team mate, Marianne Vos. But the French rider rode off the front of the bunch and opened a significant gap deep inside the final kilometre.
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However, Ferrand-Prévot tied up just before the line, with Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) hunting her down, and gaining fast as the line approached. Vos was in the wheel of the Mauritian champion and came around her to win, from Le Court-Pienaar and then Ferrand-Prévot.
Of the big name general classification riders, defending champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma (CANYON SRAM zondacrypto) was best, in 4th and on the same time as the winner. Outright favourite Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) was 5th at three seconds.
Tomorrow's stage has more climbing, at 1,650m, and the climbs are frequent, if small, with barely a flat stretch of road for most of the race. There is a climb of just over 1km, averaging 5.5 per cent gradient, to the finish line, meaning gaps will appear in what is likely to a reduced peloton once more.
For Mangan, Griffin and Gillespie, it will be about staying out of trouble on these nervous opening stages and settling into the rhythm of the race. However, Gillespie will perform some team duties, as she did today, as her team has the riders required to make a big impression.
All three Irish women may be able to grab a chance for themselves when it comes, including going in a breakaway. For now, one of the greatest riders in the history of the sport, Vos, is in the yellow jersey. She will be fancied to take another victory tomorrow, once a breakaway does not survive to the finish.
A win for ?? PFP?
No, the first victory and the first Yellow Jersey is for Marianne Vos! Relive the last kilometer of stage 1 ??Une victoire de ?? PFP ?
À la fin c'est Marianne Vos qui s'impose et qui prend le premier Maillot Jaune de ce Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2025… pic.twitter.com/JbOwPqSpHN— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 26, 2025
