‘I was definitely excited and nervous. It was my first tour, and really there’s no race like this one,’ says professional cyclist Isabella Holmgren
A local cyclist has cracked the top tier of international road racing, finishing eighth overall in this year’s Tour de France Femme.
Orillia cyclist Isabella Holmgren recently secured a landmark result on one of the sport’s biggest stages, placing eighth overall in the 2026 Tour de France Femmes — a nine‑stage, 1,175‑km edition that ran Aug. 1–9 and featured a Swiss Grand Départ in Lausanne, the first‑ever women’s ascent of Mont Ventoux, and a finale in Nice.
“I was definitely excited and nervous. It was my first tour, and really there’s no race like this one,” the 21-year-old said from her apartment in Andorra, where she trains.
“It’s a completely different race, so I was super excited, but we had a strong team and we’d been preparing at altitude in Andorra for about three weeks beforehand.”
Athletes need to be selected by their team to participate in the event, she said, noting there are only seven riders chosen for the race.
“Everybody’s out there in peak form. It’s the biggest race of the year so it’s super hard every day. You’re basically racing as hard as you can.”
Holmgren, who was Orillia’s Athlete of the Year in 2023, said the biggest challenge throughout the nine-day race was definitely the heat, which hit most of the globe at that time.
“It was definitely super hot, which was tough, but our team was quite prepared with ice baths and lots of ice during the race and hydration, so that was good,” she said. “If you have a tough day, you just have to wake up and you still have another day to race after, so there’s new chances and new new challenges to come.”
Unexpectedly seeing her family cheering her on was definitely her favourite part, she added.
“It’s a big toll mentally and physically to race a tour like that and to see them halfway through it gave me a bit of a refresh — and it was nice to have them cheering me on the course.”
Orillia native Isabella Holmgren recently finished 8th overall in the Tour de France Femme, her first time competing in the event. . Anouk Flesch photo
While Holmgren admitted she had put pressure on herself to perform, she said the lack of expectations from her team allowed her to stay focused on the road ahead.
“I think I definitely had high expectations myself but there weren’t many expectations in the general classification from the team … so I didn’t feel pressure from them,” she told OrilliaMatters.
“I think it was hard to know where I would finish because I haven’t done a Tour de France before,” she said. “I was pretty happy with the end result but yeah, I’d say it was a little bit unexpected.”
Holmgren, who has already begun to make a name for herself in the sport in recent years, said she’s excited to be at a point where she can turn her love of cycling into a career.
“I came into cycling at the right time because I’m lucky enough to have it as my job and I can support myself. It’s really a dream,” she said.
“I know years back some of my teammates who are a bit older, they didn’t have the same opportunities as me. They basically had to work or study and also train. It just wasn’t as big,” she explained.
She added that the rapid growth of women’s cycling has opened doors that didn’t exist even a decade ago.
“This is only the fifth ever edition of the women’s Tour de France, so just to be able to race the Tour de France is really amazing.”
The sport is continuing to grow so much for women, she added.
“I think, especially in Canada, a lot of people don’t really understand or know about what cycling is or that it’s even like a professional sport. But they know the Tour de France. I feel like if you don’t know anything about cycling, you know the Tour de France,” she said. “So, I think it’s really cool that the women have their version now.”
With so much of her career still ahead of her, Holmgren said she’d love the opportunity to return to the Tour de France Femmes.
“I was eighth, so quite still far from the top step, but after the first Tour, I’m definitely motivated to come back and have a better result in the future.”
Being among the top athletes in her sport is something she doesn’t take for granted.
“It’s definitely a nice feeling, especially when you’re training every day and it’s basically my life. To have a race go well is super nice, but also it’s very much a team sport. It’s not just one athlete — so maybe I was eighth overall, but it was a whole team that helped me get there,” she said.
The team as a whole did a really good job the entire race, she added.
“We wanted to win a stage of the race, so there’s the general classification — which is your time for all of the stages — and then you can win each individual stage. We had some riders super close to that stage win, and it was really exciting.”
Holmgren said her season will quickly pivot back to the dirt before returning to the road.
“Next I’ll be doing some mountain biking, actually a World Cup and World Championships, and then road World Championships are actually in Montreal this year,” she said. “So that’s a big goal. If I’m selected for the national team.”
Orillia native Isabella Holmgren recently finished 8th overall in the Tour de France Femme, her first time competing in the event. . Anouk Flesch photo