Fiona Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal), the biomedical engineer from Limerick, rode her first UCI race in Europe less than four years ago after taking up cycling during the pandemic. But the 28-year-old has now done what few riders have; finishing Paris-Roubaix.
Hers in a remarkable story inside the carnival that was the 2025 women's edition; battling back from multiple broken bones from a racing crash in Belgium at the start of last month to make it to the start line of perhaps the most brutal classic of them all.
And after 148.5km of racing, including 17 sectors of pavé, Mangan rode onto the Roubaix velodrome, well down on the winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), but having triumphed over adversity to get there.
"It was tough, really hard," she said the finish on the velodrome. "I was just happy... to be honest it was a win to get to the start because I crashed in Nieuwsblad, broke my collarbone and my hand. So I was happy to be at the start, and to get to the velodrome."
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Mangan rode the race in the national champion's jersey, an honour that was not wasted on her, saying it felt "really special".
"I was trying to help my team mate, Constance (Valentin), in the first part because it was pretty chaotic. And then after that I kinda made a massive effort, so I landed myself in the middle (of the field) and then I was going backwards.
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"Then I got two flat tyres - one at 50k and one in the last 30k - and I was trying to find groups. I was just happy to finish."
Though there were plenty of crashes along the way, as is always the case in Paris-Roubaix, Mangan wasn't involved in any and said she didn't see any.
"But, then again, I was in my zone too, so there could have been a few," she said. "I was, like, 'I'm not crashing today'. I've enough crashing done for the season.
"It was class, the atmosphere and the people and everything, they just got me through. And the end of the day, I was just happy to be here."
Mangan is in her first year with her French ProConti team and having moved up from Continental level for the first time this season, she has access to much bigger races.
Though her crash last month blew a massive hole in her plans for the spring, she got herself back into condition to ride yesterday and should have many more opportunities in the weeks and months ahead.
Her team has secured a wildcard for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, though the Irish woman's next outing will be at Amstel Gold Race (1.WWT), next Sunday, for the latest in what should be a season of big career firsts.
