Pippa Lyon – Completed the Race Around Ireland in 2017, had a baby in 2018 and is riding in the Tour De France 2019!

Pippa moved to Manly, just outside Sydney in Australia from the UK in 2012 with her husband Joe. She has always loved sport but only got involved in endurance events since moving. After completing 3 Peaks in Victoria (a 235km ride with 4000m of climbing) she realised that you can do anything that you put your mind to and decided to sign up for North Face 50km run! Since then she has continued to get involved with more endurance based challenges. 

In 2017, Pippa joined the Veloroos (a non professional endurance cycle team who won Race Around America in 2015) to take on the non stop 3000k Race Around Ireland (RAI) which ended up smashed the female record and coming 4th overall.

Pippa gave birth to her son Mawson in August 2018. She continued to ride throughout her pregnancy and was keen to find a come back event but nothing was inspiring her, until hearing about the opportunity to ride the Tour De France. 

Currently there is no Tour De France for women so a women’s team ‘InternationElles’ cycle the whole course but start a day before the men’s race in order to raise awareness about this inequality.

We will be speaking with Pippa after the tour for Tough Girl EXTRA to find out how she got on.

Show notes

• Pippa introduces herself
• Goring up in the UK and loving sports
• Running and swimming for locals clubs
• Moving out to Australia in 2012
• Getting involved in sports in a big way
• Training for the 3 peaks challenge in Australia (a 235km ride with 4000m of climbing and a 13hr cut off point) 
• The moment when she started to believe in herself
• Preparing and controlling what she could
• Why self-belief is so important
• Doing the North Face 50K Ultra Marathon
• Fitting training in around work
• Thinking while running
• What she eats while trail running (3 dates = 1 gel)
• The Big Red Run (no longer happens)
• What happens when things no longer go to plan
• Readjusting her expectations
• The Veloroos 
• The Race Around Ireland - (Watch the documentary)
• What it was like finishing the race
• Having a baby in August 2018
• Staying active during pregnancy
• Working with a coach or personal trainer?
• The Tour de France
• The pressure before the start - 5th July
• Having a bit of a wobble and feeling a bit overwhelmed
• Dealing with the logistics and challenges before the race even starts
• Le Course  - 1 day stage for women  (112km)
• Final words of advice and top tips for women 

 

Social media

Facebook: @theveloroos , @InternationElles  

Insta: @theveloroos , @InternationElles  , @piplyon  

Twitter: @internationEll2 

There will also be live tracking each day so you can 'dot watch'  and see where they are each day during the Tour.