When Pauline Ferrand-Prévot announced her intention to win the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift within hours of claiming gold in the Olympic mountain bike cross country in Paris, the general response in the road cycling bubble was a raised eyebrow.
It wasn't that no one believed she could do it, but Ferrand-Prévot had been out of the WorldTour peloton for six years. She didn't know what she was getting herself into. This reaction was backed up when she pulled out of the World Championship road race in Zurich at the end of the 2024 season.
But Ferrand-Prévot is the exception that defies the rule. Winner of the Worlds in cyclocross, road, and mountain bike in the same season when she was only 23 years old, who are we to question what she can and can't accomplish?
The multi-discipline, multi-time world champion gave herself three years to win the Tour. As it turned out, the lengthy window was unnecessary. One year after winning MTB gold, Ferrand-Prévot crossed the finish line in Châtel, the first French winner of the yellow jersey since Bernard Hinault in 1985.
Did we do a good job with this story?
