26-07-2025
Lucie Fityus excited to compete in first Tour de France Femmes
Since Lucie Fityus started cycling at the age of 11, she has been asked one question time and time again: Will you race the Tour de France?
The Newcastle-born rider will be able to answer "yes" to that question when she lines up for the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Saturday night, AEST.
Fityus is competing in her maiden Tour de France Femmes, and is one of seven Australians participating in this year's tour.
Racing for French team St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, Fityus will be teammates with fellow Aussie Emily Watts.
Speaking to ABC Sport ahead of her first tour, Fityus said excitement was the emotion she feels most.
"It's been a really long journey. I started when I was 11 or 12 back in Newcastle on the Velodrome.
"It's taken years to get to this point. It's been a really, really steady sort of build since I was younger.
"So, I'm really excited for it."
Fityus said she only got into the sport because, growing up, she would copy whatever her brother would do.
So when she saw his mates racing on the Velodrome, she jumped at the opportunity when they invited her into the sport.
"My parents aren't cycling people at all, so I wasn't introduced to it through my parents.
"[My brother's] friends got him into it, and then they got me into it."
Now a professional cyclist living in Spain, Fityus has taken part in big races this year, including Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes.
The Australian will also garner the support of the locals during the tour, who enjoy cheering for a French team as much as they enjoy cheering for French riders.
"It's quite special to be competing in the biggest French race with a French team."
A maiden tour also means a new style of preparation to tackle the nine-stage event, which ends with two big mountain stages.
For Fityus, this meant joining her teammates on a camp at high altitude, spending two and a half weeks above 1,800 metres of elevation.
"This assists in sort of naturally raising your red blood cell level in your body, so that you then have more oxygen going around your blood," she said.
"The effects last for about three weeks, and that's a little bit different. I haven't done that before."
The Tour de France Femmes begins on Saturday evening, AEST, in the Brittany region of north western France, with a 78.8-kilometre stage from Vannes to Plumelec.
