: by ASO

: by ASO [See image gallery at www.irishcyclingnews.com]

The route of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes has been announced this morning in Paris, and it features a very difficult route that differs quite a lot from this year's. The time trials are back at next year's edition, and we will have a mythical first-time summit finish at Mont Ventoux, with a finale...

Two Irish riders will roll out of Lausanne on Saturday as the fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift gets underway. Mia Griffin lines up for Team Picnic PostNL, while Limericks Fiona Mangan returns with French outfit Mayenne Monbana My Pie both back for another crack at the biggest race on the womens calendar.This years route is the longest yet nine stages and 1,175km from a Swiss Grand Dpart in Lausanne to the finale in Nice on Sunday 9 August, with a record 18,795m of climbing along the way. After three days in Switzerland, the race crosses into France for a 21km individual time trial into Dijon, before the road tilts steadily upwards through the Beaujolais and the Rhne valley towards the races headline act: a first-ever summit finish on Mont Ventoux on stage 7. Two days around Nice, including a punishing final circuit over the Col dze, will settle the yellow jersey.Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prvot wears dossard number one for Visma | Lease a Bike, and all eyes will be on her renewed duel with Demi Vollering, runner-up in each of the last two editions by the finest of margins and now leading FDJ United-Suez on home roads. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Lotte Kopecky, Marlen Reusser and Elisa Longo Borghini head a start list of 147 riders from 21 teams, while Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte Kool will fight out the sprint stages.Griffin goes into the race as a key part of the Picnic PostNL unit built around British champion Pfeiffer Georgi, with the Kilkenny riders engine well suited to the flatter Swiss stages and in Nice. Mangan faces the race as part of a young Mayenne Monbana My Pie squad led by Karolina Perekitko.The IrishIRLIrish Riders Tour de France Femmes 202619 August Lausanne Nice 9 stages 1,175km125MiaGRIFFIN Team Picnic PostNL205FionaMANGAN Mayenne Monbana My PieThe Route2026 RouteRecord 18,795m of climbing1Sat 1 Aug Lausanne Lausanne137km Punchy2Sun 2 Aug Aigle Geneva149km Flat3Mon 3 Aug Geneva Poligny157km Hilly4Tue 4 Aug Gevrey-Chambertin Dijon21km ITT5Wed 5 Aug Mcon Belleville-en-Beaujolais140km Hilly6Thu 6 Aug Montbrison Tournon-sur-Rhne153km Hilly7Fri 7 Aug La Voulte-sur-Rhne Mont Ventoux144km Mountain8Sat 8 Aug Sisteron Nice175km Flat9Sun 9 Aug Nice Nice99km MountainFull Startlist 21 Teams, 147 RidersTVLTeam Visma | Lease a Bike NED1PaulineFERRAND PREVOT FRA2MarionBUNEL FRA3FemkeDE VRIES NED4DaniekHENGEVELD NED5LiekeNOOIJEN NED6SarahVAN DAM CAN7MarianneVOS NEDTFSFDJ United-Suez FRA11DemiVOLLERING NED12JulietteBERTHET FRA13CliaGERY FRA14FranziskaKOCH GER15AmberKRAAK NED16MarieLE NET FRA17EvitaMUZIC FRACSRCanyon//SRAM GER21KatarzynaNIEWIADOMA-PHINNEY POL22Zoe JaneBACKSTEDT GBR23ChiaraCONSONNI ITA24Maria RosaKLSER GER25AntoniaNIEDERMAIER GER26SorayaPALADIN ITA27AgnieszkaSKALNIAK-SOJKA POLUADUAE Team LIMAD UAE31DominikaWLODARCZYK POL32PaulaBLASI CAIROL ESP33BrodieCHAPMAN AUS34MaviGARCIA ESP35ElisaLONGO BORGHINI ITA36SilviaPERSICO ITA37MaevaSQUIBAN FRASDWTeam SD Worx-Protime NED41AnnaVAN DER BREGGEN NED42MischaBREDEWOLD NED43ValentinaCAVALLAR AUT44ElenaCECCHINI ITA45LotteKOPECKY BEL46NienkeVINKE NED47LorenaWIEBES NEDMOVMovistar Team ESP51MarlenREUSSER SUI52FrancescaBARALE ITA53LianeLIPPERT GER54Ana VitoriaMAGALHAES BRA55SaraMARTIN MARTIN ESP56PaulaOSTIZ ESP57ArlenisSIERRA CANADILLA CUBLTKLidl-Trek GER61ElisaBALSAMO ITA62LoesADEGEEST NED63LucindaBRAND NED64NiamhFISHER-BLACK NZL65IsabellaHOLMGREN CAN66RiejanneMARKUS NED67AmandaSPRATT AUSAGSAG Insurance-Soudal Team BEL71KimLE COURT PIENAAR MRI72MireiaBENITO PELLICER ESP73LetiziaBORGHESI ITA74ShariBOSSUYT BEL75LoreDE SCHEPPER BEL76JustineGHEKIERE BEL77UrkaIGART SLOEFOEF Education-Oatly USA81MagdeleineVALLIERES MILL CAN82NinaBERTON LUX83HenriettaCHRISTIE NZL84KristenFAULKNER USA85CedrineKERBAOL FRA86NoemiRUEGG SUI87AliceTOWERS GBRFPCFenix-Premier Tech BEL91PuckPIETERSE NED92SaraCASASOLA ITA93LotteCLAES BEL94MillieCOUZENS GBR95YaraKASTELIJN NED96CharlotteKOOL NED97ChristinaSCHWEINBERGER AUTHPHHuman Powered Health USA101TitiaRYO FRA102NinaBUIJSMAN NED103CarlottaCIPRESSI ITA104ThalitaDE JONG NED105BarbaraMALCOTTI ITA106MaritRAAIJMAKERS NED107LilyWILLIAMS USALIVLiv-AlUla-Jayco AUS111MonicaTRINCA COLONEL ITA112MackenzieCOUPLAND AUS113NadiaGONTOVA CAN114JeanneKOREVAAR NED115LetiziaPATERNOSTER ITA116RubyROSEMAN-GANNON AUS117SilkeSMULDERS NEDTPPTeam Picnic PostNL NED121EleonoraCIABOCCO ITA122RobynCLAY GBR123LucieFITYUS AUS124PfeifferGEORGI GBR125MiaGRIFFIN IRL126GaiaMASETTI ITA127JosieNELSON GBRAUBSt Michel Preference Home Auber93 FRA131EmilieMORIER FRA132HeidiFRANZ USA133AliciaGONZALEZ BLANCO ESP134IndiaGRANGIER FRA135AlisonJACKSON CAN136SolneMULLER FRA137CarolineWRESZIN USACWTCofidis Women Team FRA141MalwinaMUL POL142JulieBEGO FRA143EmaCOMTE FRA144AmalieDIDERIKSEN DEN145VictorieGUILMAN FRA146HannahLUDWIG GER147NikolaNOSKOV CZELKFLaboral Kutxa Fundacion Euskadi ESP151UsoaOSTOLAZA ZABALA ESP152NaiaAMONDARAIN GAZTAAGA ESP153YuliiaBIRIUKOVA UKR154IdoiaERASO LASA ESP155AriannaFIDANZA ITA156PaulaPATIO BEDOYA COL157DeboraSILVESTRI ITAVWTVolkerWessels Cycling Team NED161QuintySCHOENS NED162AnnekeDIJKSTRA NED163MalouEISEN NED164ElineJANSEN NED165LauraMOLENAAR NED166MaudRIJNBEEK NED167SophieVON BERSWORDT NEDUXMUno-X Mobility NOR171KatrineAALERUD NOR172TeuntjeBEEKHUIS NED173Marte BergEDSETH NOR174SigridHAUGSET NOR175AnouskaKOSTER NED176LauraTOMASI ITA177AlessiaVIGILIA ITALILLotto Intermarche Ladies BEL181SandrineTAS BEL182DinaBOELS BEL183ElisabethEBRAS EST184RominaHINOJOSA CRUZ MEX185MariekeMEERT BEL186LindaRIEDMANN GER187SterreVERVLOET BELMPEMa Petite Entreprise FRA191ClmenceLATIMIER FRA192NomieABGRALL FRA193LauraASENCIO FRA194AlisonAVOINE FRA195MorganeCOSTON FRA196CliaLE MOUL FRA197OcaneMAHE FRAMMMMayenne Monbana My Pie FRA201KarolinaPEREKITKO POL202MarineALLIONE FRA203AliceCOUTINHO FRA204KiaraLYLYK CAN205FionaMANGAN IRL206NatalieQUINN USA207ConstanceVALENTIN FRA

The 2019 Amstel Gold Race witnessed one of the most epic race finales of our generation. The race seemed set to be decided among pre-race favourites Julian Alaphilippe and Jakob Fuglsang who have built a notable lead in the final kilometers at the head of the race. And then, Mathieu van der Poel eme...

: by ASO [See image gallery at www.irishcyclingnews.com]

: by ASO [See image gallery at www.irishcyclingnews.com]

: by ASO [See image gallery at www.irishcyclingnews.com]

: by ASO [See image gallery at www.irishcyclingnews.com]

Regardless of whether you have been a fan of the idea or not; Paul Seixas made his Grand Tour debut at the 2026 Tour de France. And objectively speaking even though it's not the desired podium, the 19-year-old did not disappoint with a fourth place overall. So, was it a good idea or not for Seixas...