'I was not planned for Roubaix or Flanders' - Ferrand-Prévot on last minute schedule change in comeback season

Speaking on the Visma | Lease a Bike Beehive podcast, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot highlighted that she was originally not scheduled to compete in the two mammoth monuments of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, stating on the podcast, "I was not planned first for Flanders and Roubaix." Ferrand-Prévot finished second in the Tour of Flanders and took a famous French victory on the brutal cobbles.

Before tackling the cobbles, Ferrand-Prévot had competed in both Milan-Sanremo and Strade Bianche Donne, finishing third on the white roads of Tuscany. Ferrand-Prévot then clarified that it was the moment she and the team decided to take on the cobbles, "Then we saw that I was in good shape, so we decided at this moment to put me in Flanders and Roubaix."

Making her debut at the 'Hell of the North', Ferrand-Prévot acknowledged that perhaps she had underestimated the atmosphere of the occasion. "For me, I just heard about Paris-Roubaix, it was the first time I was doing this race, and I think I underestimated a bit the full race because there were so many people on the side of the road, Ferrand-Prévot said. 

She then continued with the adoration for the fantastic French fans, "I'm French, so the French people were crazy when they saw me at the front of the race."

Realising what she had achieved by winning Paris-Roubaix solo, Ferrand-Prévot recalled the winning moment, "When I entered this velodrome, I was just, what is happening? It's not even real. You can't really realise the moment, it took me a few days to realise that I won Paris-Roubaix."