Axelle Dubau-Prévot follows sister and returns to road peloton with Tour Femmes in mind

Axelle Dubau-Prévot will follow in the wheel tracks of her sister Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and return to racing on the road in 2026. She has signed a contract with EF Education-Oatly after shining on the gravel circuit over the past two seasons.

“This is my dream team,” Dubau-Prévot said in a statement released by the team on Monday. “They think outside of the box at EF Education-Oatly. It’s the only team where I can see myself because I don’t have a traditional cycling background. I want to be serious and also to keep the joy and the fun in racing.”

The Frenchwoman previously spent two years in the pro peloton in 2017 and 2018, racing with Bizkaia-Durango and Experza-Footlogix. She later switched her focus to trail running and off-road cycling.

Dubau-Prévot began gravel racing in 2022, and she became French national champion in the discipline last year, when she also claimed the overall standings at Gravel Burn. In 2026, she will ride a mixed schedule of gravel and road races for EF Education-Oatly.

“This coming season, I want to keep my French gravel national champion’s jersey and I want to race the Traka again,” said Dubau-Prévot. “And on the road, I want to be a strong teammate so everyone can depend on me.”

Dubau-Prévot joins an EF Education-Oatly roster that includes world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, Kristen Faulkner and Noemi Rüegg. Her arrival at a Women’s WorldTour team from the gravel circuit echoes that of Marine Lenehan, who joins Lidl-Trek this year after impressing off-road.

“I think it gives her a healthy perspective on racing and on life knowing that she has chosen to step away from the sport at times,” said EF general manager Esra Tromp. “This kind of maturity says a lot about her character.” 

Her older sister Pauline Ferrand-Prévot stepped away from road racing for five years before opting to return after securing mountain bike gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Ferrand-Prévot was inspired to return by the prospect of riding – and winning – the Tour de France Femmes, and she duly claimed overall victory in 2025.

For Dubau-Prévot, the possibility of lining up at the Tour de France Femmes was a key factor in her decision to resume the road career she had abandoned in 2018.

“When I heard a few years ago that the Tour was coming back, I was out of the cycling world and I felt a bit sad to think that I would never take part in it,” she said.

“I’m French and if someone asks me what I do and I say I’m a cyclist, they immediately ask if I race the Tour de France. It’s the reference. Now after watching the race and seeing that EF Education-Oatly really wants to do something big at the Tour, I would love to make the Tour squad one year.”