'I can't say I really like racing, but I like winning - Ferrand Prévot brutally honest on what drives her

Ferrand Prévot made a remarkable comeback to the road in the 2025 season, completing a historic double with victories at Paris Roubaix Femmes and the Tour de France Femmes, where she claimed the yellow jersey.

Speaking at Rouleur Livethe French rider said, "This idea came back the winter before the Olympics because I wanted to prepare everything to become Olympic champion," Ferrand Prévot said. "I know if I didn't know what I had after the Olympics, in my head it would be like, 'what are you going to do afterwards?' And I didn't want to think about it."

The French star, who delighted home crowds with her Tour de France Femmes victory this summer, explained that regardless of the result in Paris, she had already decided mountain biking would not be part of her long term future. 

"I really wanted to become Olympic champion, I didn't see myself continuing with MTB for more years," she said.

Rather than feeling burdened by the pressure of a home Games, Ferrand Prévot said she thrived under the weight of national expectation. "It's so cool to feel this pressure. I love it," she explained. 

"Just being in your bubble and you know that everyone is waiting for you and you have to make it that day."

The intensity of preparing for Olympic success left a deep impression on her. "It's one and half hours of racing and you know that MTB, you have to take a good start. 

So you have to do a good warm up," she said. "The full process, it was just amazing. And after the Olympics, I said to myself, maybe you will never leave this again. You know, like having this feeling of everyone waiting for you to win."

When asked about her broader motivations in cycling, Ferrand Prévot was disarmingly honest about what fuels her. "I really think I like cycling. For me, it's my life," she admitted. "I can't say I really like racing, but I like winning. So it's really complicated for me."

The multiple discipline world champion acknowledged that this could sound bold, but made no apologies for her competitive nature. "Maybe it can be a bit pretentious to say like this, but if I want to race, it's because I want to win," she said.

After winning the Tour de France, she will also shift part of her focus to the Classics next year.

"I also want to try to win Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the beginning of the season," she revealed. "This year, coming back into road cycling, I was quite up and down I would say. I performed well in the Tour, but I would like next year to perform more at the beginning of the season and then in the Tour de France too. That's also another challenge for me to have two peaks in the season, and I really love this idea also."