Ireland’s Fiona Mangan, far right, with her Mayenne Monbana My Pie squad at the start of Tour de France stage 1 in Lausanne today (Photo: Gaetan Flamme)
Fiona Mangan (Mayenne Monbana My Pie) has gotten her second Tour de France underway with a strong ride into Lausanne today, having been in the peloton until it blew on the final climb to the finish.
The Limerick woman told stickybottle she felt her form was ahead of where she was 12 months ago, when her form deserted her a little on Tour de France debut.
“It was super hard,” she said of the 138km stage 1. “It was less stressful than last year, but maybe I also knew what to expect. It’s good to get the first stage done out of the way to get into the rhythm.
“Other than some crashes, it was just a hard race and I think that last kicker was very much about what was left in your legs.”
Lorena Wiebes dug in stay with the general classification riders on the Côte Saint-François, then easily won the sprint for stage victory and the yellow jersey (Photo: Gaetan Flamme)
Today’s opening stage, of nine, saw a 10-rider select group pull away on the final climb to the finish line, the Côte Saint-François.
Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) did incredibly well to match the general classification riders to win in a sprint from an otherwise GC-dominated front group.
Mangan’s team suffered a bit of setback on the eve of the race when its team bus broke down, meaning they are using a camper van instead.
However, that has not dampened the mood in the camp and Mangan will look to get up the road during the week ahead, as she did last year.
The former Irish road race and TT champion has also come into this race with some solid results behind her. She placed 13th at La Périgord Ladies (1.1) and 10th in La Picto en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (1.1), both in France, the weekend before last.
“I have much better form than last year, we’ll see how the week unfolds, as the stages are also harder,” she said. “In general, this year though… my fatigue resistance has improved a lot.
“So, in general, I’m a better rider overall. I’ve done as much as I could (to prepare). I didn’t go to altitude because the way our calendar fell, I wouldn’t have had enough time up there.
“But I’m happy with the preparation I did in Auvergne in the mountains in France so I guess we’ll see.”
The Limerick woman finished 54th today – of a 145-strong field, some 1:05 down on the winner. That was a solid start after the peloton was shredded on the final climb to the line; 2.6km averaging 4.8 per cent gradient.
🚴♀️💨 The first sprint. The first yellow jersey !
⏪ Relive the last kilometre of Stage 1.
Un sprint pour un premier Maillot Jaune ! 💛
⏪ Revivez le dernier kilomètre de la première étape.#TDFF2026 #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/GThaJK5Nvg
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) August 1, 2026