Lucie Fityus: From Newcastle’s Velodrome to the Tour de France Femmes
One of the mandates I ‘signed up to’ when I started this blog 15 years ago is to promote female pro cyclists, particularly Aussie riders. But I also want to help raise the profile of lesser-known riders like the subject of this blog post – Lucie Fityus.
Lucie is a 25-year-old Novocastrian who rides for the Dutch outfit Team Picnic PostNL. I was inspired to contact Lucie after seeing a video of her on SBS socials at the end of this year’s Tour de France Femmes, which she completed for the first time.
My other moment of inspiration was at the Tour Down Under earlier this year. I was at the side of the road to watch the race, and there was a rider whooshing by with her own personal cheer squad. I started talking to the ‘cheer squad’, and it was none other than Lucie’s proud mum. It reminded me how important it is to have your own fan club and support team, and also how each rider needs to create their own profile/brand beyond that inner circle of support.
I spoke to Lucie a week or so ago when she was in Brittany in France, getting ready for a race called the Classic Lorient Agglomération, a late call-up with her team, and one of her last races for the season, except for her final one in October, before she returns home to Australia.
Once this season is done, she’ll start to focus on her main goal of 2027, the Spring Classics.
When we chatted, she’d recently completed the Tour de France Femmes, an achievement of which she is very proud. The race wasn’t originally on her race program, and she knew its hilly stages would challenge her.
She described the crowds at the roadside as the biggest she’d ever seen at a women’s standalone race. “The crowds on Mont Ventoux were next level. I could ride at my own pace without much pressure. It was super fun, not that I usually say that about long climbs! I saw many familiar faces cheering me on – Aussie flags and AFL jerseys, which made it like a little slice of home on the hill,” said Lucie.
This year and next, she’s signed up to ride with Dutch team Picnic PostNL, who somewhat strangely have no female Dutch riders currently on their squad. Despite the lack of Dutch teammates, Lucie says that the team has a decidedly Dutch feel and approach which she enjoys. “The expectations are really clear, with quite a rigid structure. They are also very direct, which works well for me.”
A woman who she credits with helping guide her career is Nettie Edmondson through her business Paradigm Shift Sports. “Whenever I have issues on or off the bike, she’s there to advocate for me. She knows all the right people and can point me in the right direction. A lot of the power rests with teams when it comes to negotiations, and Nettie’s guidance with my contract was invaluable.”
Like many Aussies living and racing their bikes in Europe, Lucie calls Girona in Spain, close to the French border, her home away from home. “Living in Girona is awesome. It has some really good positives. It’s a hotspot for racers and riders who can’t live in their own country while competing in Europe. Canadians, Americans, English, Kiwis and Australians all congregate in this community and give each other lots of support. The weather is great, it’s close to airports, plus a great variety of rides with hills, flats and quiet roads,” she said.
Lucie’s life as a cyclist started on the track, when she decided to join her twin brother in the junior scene in their hometown of Newcastle. Alongside cycling, she also tried loads of other sports like soccer, athletics and lifesaving, but track cycling won out, and she spent many hours at the Newcastle Velodrome with the Hunter Academy of Sport. That led to road cycling, and although she loves track, she finds it hard to fit in with her current road racing focus.
Like many of her fellow female pro cyclists, she’s balanced study with her riding career. For the past seven years, she’s been working towards an Engineering degree at the University of Newcastle and has just one subject to go before she can wear those graduation robes.
When I asked her what she’d advise any aspiring female road cyclists wanting to turn pro, she said it’s about persistence and patience: “I was never the child prodigy, but I just kept going and committed to it. I’d also say to do the hard things sometimes. It can take much longer than you think, and it’s a hard thing to do, but have faith in the process,” stated Lucie.