Manx cyclists Lizzie Holden and Becky Storrie competed in the prestigious Tour de France Femmes last week.  

The duo – who represented the island at the 2022 Commonwealth Games – rode for UAE Team ADQ and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL respectively throughout the week-long event. 

It proved to be a case of mixed fortunes, with both playing key supporting roles in helping their team-mates claim some impressive results but unfortunately Storrie crashed out of the race late on. 

The tour began with Storrie helping team-mate Charlotte Kool win the opening two stages in the Hague and Rotterdam. 

Stage three was an individual time trial in which Holden finished an excellent 28th to move up 48 places to 29th in the overall standings.  

The fourth stage saw riders head to Liege, Belgium over a 122.7km hilly route in which climbing specialist Storrie excelled, finishing 49th with Holden 92nd. 

After both claimed mid-pack finishes on stage five, Holden helped team-mate Karlijn Swinkels finish fourth the following day, while Storrie’s team-mate Juliette Labous was 10th. 

While the latter improved on that result with eighth on stage seven, there was bad news for Storrie who was involved in a crash and had to abandon the race with a recurrence of a fractured collarbone that has plagued her season. 

Holden was the leading British rider on the final stage in 71st which helped her finish 73rd overall on CC, one place behind former world champion Elizabeth Deignan.