'I wanted to win in yellow' - Ferrand-Prévot's emotional triumph at Tour de France Femmes

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) sealed the general classification at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Sunday after an exceptional weekend, winning back-to-back stages.

An emotional Ferrand-Prévot explained in her post-race interview that she hoped to be able to pull off a victory in yellow and was ecstatic to be able to pull off the impressive feat.

"This morning, I said to the DS that I would like to win in yellow, so if you can make it, why not? So I attacked in the last climb and I could make it to the finish, and I'm so, so happy," explained Ferrand-Prévot. 

Truthfully, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider delivered the knockout punch to her fellow GC contenders on the slopes of the mythical Col de la Madeleine, but adding a second stage win with a late attack in yellow on the run-in to Châtel was the icing on the cake. 

It was a near faultless performance from the yellow jersey on stage 9, who followed all the attacks required and only needed one bullet to strike the stage-winning move, which she launched an attack from the front group with 6.5km remaining. 

It would have been an entirely faultless performance from Ferrand-Prévot had it not been for the yellow jersey being distanced early in the stage, having been caught out in a split after a descent, alongside her closest GC rival, Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal). 

However, the yellow jersey wearer used this near scare in a positive way, as after returning to the front with help from her Visma | Lease a Bike teammates, Ferrand-Prévot remained vigilant for the remainder, and this helped her to victory in the end.

“I was a bit too far back in the first downhill, I think I was just a bit scared, you know, with the pressure of this jersey, so my teammates had to ride, and they did a massive effort to bring me back to the front," said Ferrand-Prévot.

"Afterwards, I said, ok, now I have to stick to the front, and just try to stay there," Ferrand-Prévot explained, who was quick to react to Demi Vollering's attack in the finale before launching her stage-winning counter move shortly after. 

Her performance sealed an overall victory by 3:42 over Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), with Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) finishing third at 4:09.

Ferrand-Prévot's remarkable performance throughout the Tour de France Femmes cements her legacy as one of the greatest riders in the sport and completes an incredible comeback to road racing, having focused on Mountain Biking in recent years, where she won countless rainbow jerseys and Olympic gold in Paris twelve months ago. 

At the end of stage 8, Ferrand-Prévot revealed that 'the reason I came back was the Tour', so the French rider will feel vindicated with her decision to return to the road, along with her success at Paris-Roubaix in April.

This impressive double makes her the first rider since Bernard Hinault in 1981 to win both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France in the same season.

French President Emmanuel Macron also personally congratulated Ferrand-Prévot in a phone call following her victory.

"The emotion is as intense as it was for my Olympic gold medal last year," Ferrand-Prévot told the president. "It's incredible! Thank you for your call; I will make the most of this achievement!"