‚Less stressful, less sickness, less injury‘ – A year on from disastrous Tour de France Femmes debut Australia’s Lucie Fityus embraces new role at Picnic-PostNL

The Tour de France Femmes this yr welcomed seven riders from Australia and New Zealand, amongst them GC hopefuls, stage hunters, and a newcomer to the yr’s largest race. Amongst their quantity is Picnic-PostNL rider Lucie Fityus, who began the second Tour of her profession in Lausanne this weekend, and has already had a greater time of it than in her debut yr.

Her 2025 Tour de France did not go fully to plan the primary time round with struggles throughout the Grand Départ in Brittany resulting in her narrowly lacking the time minimize by 11 seconds on the second stage. This yr, in new colors at Picnic PostNL, she’s by the primary two days and was a part of the crew supporting British racer Josie Nelson to a top-10 end on stage 2 in Geneva.

Chatting with Cyclingnews after the end, Fityus mirrored on her debut final summer season – „In case you can name that first one a primary one.“

„There’s undoubtedly, undoubtedly higher emotions moving into, much more organisation, and a a lot better run-in to this. So yeah, it is much more optimistic,“ she added, earlier than revealing what went mistaken in 2025 and what has modified in 2026.

„The preparation, completely. I did not have a great expertise at altitude final yr, after which loads of stress round my research as effectively.

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„So it was so much much less worrying coming in, much less illness, much less harm. Very clean.“

This time round, she has prevented altitude, as a substitute staying low within the run-up to the Tour and coaching in sizzling climate in Girona. This, in any case, is a Tour the place the temperature not often reaches beneath 30°C and the place levels are being threatened by wildfires.

„We focussed on staying at stage and getting actually good high quality coaching in. It has been truly fairly good for warmth adaptation as effectively as a result of I stay in Girona, so it has been highly regarded,“ Fityus stated.

Fityus, 25, hails from Newcastle in New South Wales, whereas her street to the very prime stage of biking dates again to early years spent within the Perth-based setup, Biking Growth Basis.

4 years there – „they’ve been a large a part of my growth the entire means by,“ she stated after she signed with Picnic PostNL – led to a stint with main Australian growth program ARA-Skip Capital.

What to learn subsequent

These growth years, on each monitor and street, all led to a contract with French ProTeam St Michel-Desire Dwelling-Auber93 for 2025, when she racked up top-10 finishes on the Surf Coast Basic and Scheldeprijs in addition to debuting at a number of spring’s hardest Classics races, together with the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

She has balanced racing together with her civil engineering diploma – „I’ve yet one more topic left, after which I am completed,“ she stated – and now she’s again on the Tour having signed a two-year deal within the Ladies’s WorldTour.

„It is undoubtedly totally different. I believe the WorldTour stage is the place you actually step up a stage by way of assist. However I actually take pleasure in each groups,“ she stated of her squad change.

„I had a good time in St Michel final yr. They’re incredible, however once more this yr with Picnic-PostNL, I am actually having fun with it. They’re incredible, additionally.“

Her first yr at Picnic hasn’t all gone to plan, with Fityus admitting that her Classics marketing campaign wasn’t as sturdy because it may’ve been, however she has taken on a brand new racing position as a assist rider and has hung out studying how one can adapt to these new calls for.

„I did not get as a lot out of myself within the Classics as I wished, but it surely’s actually been about embracing a brand new position for me in that assist position for a pacesetter, which I have not completed a lot earlier than,“ she stated.

„I have been extra of an opportunistic rider in earlier years however this yr has been actually about studying how one can assist a pacesetter, and feeding and positioning and issues like that. So I’ve actually discovered so much.“

On the Tour, she has been joined within the Picnic squad by former Basic Brugge-De Panne champion Pfeiffer Georgi, in a crew that had began out focussed on supporting 22-year-old Eleonora Ciabocco, sixth on the UAE Tour again in February, for a great GC journey.

There will be a retooling of crew targets the remainder of the best way, nonetheless, after Ciabocco sadly misplaced 12 minutes on the street to Geneva.

„Look, our targets have been focussing on GC with Eleanora. Sadly, she had a little bit of a tough day immediately, so these is likely to be a bit off the playing cards,“ she stated.

„However I am positive now that we’ll refocus for the levels and see what we will do there.“

Fityus, in her personal phrases an admitted opportunist, would possibly but get an opportunity to hunt out an opportunity for herself this week, in any case.