Limerick cyclist looking to make history at this year's Tour de France
LIMERICK cyclist Fiona Mangan has been selected to ride in this year's Tour de France Fémines with French team Mayenne Monbana My Pie
The Pallaskenry native made her debut in the competition last year with Winspace Orange Seal.
Mangan has put in some consistent performances this year, including 13th at La Périgord Ladies (1.1) and 10th at La Picto en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (1.1), both in France the weekend before last.
Although Mangan may not have performed as well as she would’ve liked in last year’s installment of the competition, the 30-year-old showed unbelievable resilience to get to the starting line.
She suffered separate broken bone injuries at Omloop Nieuwsblad in early March, a road cycling race in Belgium. Fiona broke both her hand and her collarbone which required double surgery.
With last year’s injury woes behind her and the experience of racing with cycling’s elite last summer under her belt, Mangan will be as determined as ever to show what she can do on the world’s biggest cycling stage.
Speaking to the Limerick Leader ahead of last year’s race, Mangan stated how happy she was to be ‘showing the Limerick colours abroad.’
“I'm definitely proud to be from Limerick. There was never much cycling where I grew up in Kildimo-Pallaskenry so I hope that this race can carve out a path for other girls and boys from Limerick who may want to go into cycling or anything like that.
“Hopefully I can show them that it can be done because this in an experience like no other. It'll be great to show the Limerick colours abroad.”
The Tour de France Femmes got underway Saturday, August 1 and will finish on Sunday, August 9.