'The reason I came back was the Tour' - Ferrand-Prévot on the verge of Tour glory
The Visma | Lease a Bike rider took a major step forward towards winning the Tour de France Femmes with a monumental performance on the slopes of the Col de la Madeleine.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) delivered one of the greatest performances in Tour de France Femmes history, powering to victory on the queen stage, conquering the Col de la Madeleine and taking control of the general classification.
Ferrand-Prévot was already one of the greatest female road cyclists of all time, as a former road race world champion amongst many other accolades, but had a lengthy spell focusing on mountain bike racing, and dabbling with some cyclocross whilst her road career was shelved.
However, 2025 marked the full return to road racing for Ferrand-Prévot, who marked her intent to win the Tour de France Femmes, and this was something that the French star reflected on after claiming the stage win on the Col de la Madeleine, having moved one gigantic step closer to achieving that goal.
"The reason I came back to the road was the Tour. So it gives me a lot of pleasure to win today," said Ferrand-Prévot after crossing the finish line, a commanding 1:45 over second-placed Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal).
"Today is proof that I made the right choice," she stated, reflecting on her decision to return to road racing, having focused on her mountain bike career, where she significantly became Olympic champion last year in her home games in Paris, France, amongst countless world titles. Ferrand-Prévot had already added Paris-Roubaix to her collection since her return, but the Tour de France Femmes is the ultimate prize for the French star to add to her stunning Palmares.
Despite her dominant display, Ferrand-Prévot admitted that she was uncertain about her form and legs heading into the crucial climb that was likely to have a significant say in the battle for yellow.
"I didn't know what was going to happen until the foot of the Madeleine," Ferrand-Prévot explained. "I had no idea how I compared to the other riders, so I was a bit unsure. But mountain biking has taught me how to ride at the limit for an hour," she added.
Even with the stage victory well secured inside the closing kilometres, Ferrand-Prévot was intent on maximising her excellent form to take as much time as possible on her fellow general classification contenders with one more stage standing between her and the opportunity to become the first French woman to win the Tour de France Femmes, and the first home rider to triumph since Bernard Hinault in 1985.
"The last kilometres were incredibly painful, but I wanted to get as big a lead as possible for tomorrow,” Ferrand-Prévot explained. "I tried to enjoy it, but right up to the finish line, I thought: it's not over yet. I just wanted to get to the finish as quickly as possible. I'm so happy it worked out."
The finale of the Tour de France Femmes is another major mountain stage, which features the hors categorie climb, the Col de Joux Plane (11.6km at 8.5%), around the mid-way point of the stage. After dominating stage 8, Ferrand-Prévot sits in an excellent position in yellow, but knows the job isn't sealed until crossing the finish line on Sunday.
She was also quick to acknowledge the support of her team throughout the eight stages so far, "I'm so glad it worked out. I want to thank my team; they have been fantastic all week. I'm happy I could finish it today," Ferrand-Prévot said.
With one final stage remaining, Ferrand-Prévot's lead in the general classification is 2:37 over Gigante, whilst the 2023 champion, Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), sits third at 3:18. The defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//Sram zondacrypto) occupies 4th at 3:40.
