Mia Griffin to be the first Irish woman to compete in Tour de France Femmes

Irish champion cyclist Mia Griffin is set to debut at the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, the first-ever Irish woman to compete in the race.

The Kilkenny athlete, who was crowned the women’s elite national road race champion last month, will race at the Tour with the Roland Cycling team according to an announcement from the team last night. She will be joined on the team by an international crew of Morgane Coston, Tamara Dronova, Elena Pirrone, Kaja Rysz, Petra Stiasny and Sylvie Swinkels.

Griffin competed for Team Ireland at the 2024 Olympic Games, setting a new Irish national record time in the Team Pursuit event. Also in 2024, she became the first Irish cyclist in 11 years to win Rás na mBan, an international stage cycle women's road race in Kilkenny.

At the time of writing, two other Irish women are in contention to join the Tour this year: Dublin native Lara Gillespie, a multiple Irish National Champion, is working towards selection by her UAE Team ADQ. Limerick's Fiona Mangan, champion of the Irish National Road Series and Time Trial, is seeking to race with her Winspace Orange Seal team.

Offaly cyclist Megan Armitage was selected for the tour in 2023 by the Arkéa team, but a head injury sustained in training forced her to withdraw.

The nine-stage Tour de France Femmes will begin this Saturday, July 26 and will run through August 3.