Back on the road in 2025, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot made her mark by winning Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France Femmes.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is unanimous. After a season spent alongside the Frenchwoman, Jos van Emden is full of praise. The sports director of Visma-Lease a Bike training describes a rider ” apart “saluting both his professional rigor and his personality. For her return to the road in 2025, the Frenchwoman hit hard by winning Paris-Roubaix then the Tour de France Femmes, a resounding double which left its mark on the peloton.
Five years after putting her road career on hold, the Champenoise returned with clearly stated ambitions. As soon as she joined the Dutch team, she announced that she wanted to win the Tour within three years.
“From then on, she was already a leader”recognizes van Emden in The Dauphiné Libéréwho accompanied her to the Yellow Jersey last summer.
Versatile, Ferrand-Prévot impressed on all terrains, capable of taming the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix as well as making the difference in the high mountains, particularly in the Madeleine. Crowned Vélo d’Or at the beginning of December, the Frenchwoman, according to her sports director, “clearly high standard”within her team as in women’s cycling as a whole.
What program for 2026?
And the Olympic mountain bike champion doesn’t intend to stop there. In the Inside the Beehive podcast, she said she was aiming for new classics, a second Tour de France Femmes and a world champion title. If its 2026 program has not yet been made official, the Flandrian and Ardennes classics should feature prominently in its calendar.
At 33, having had surgery on her left ankle in the fall, Ferrand-Prévot is approaching her second season at Visma-Lease a Bike with renewed confidence. “2026 will be an exceptional year”she assures, with the experience accumulated in 2025. A feeling shared by those around her, convinced that the Frenchwoman now only approaches races with a clear objective: victory.
