Pauline Ferrand-Prévot from France was crowned champion of the 2025 women's Tour de France on Sunday after her second consecutive stage win propelled her to one of the most prestigious titles on the circuit.
Just over a year after she won gold for her country at the Paris Olympics in the mountain biking, the 33-year-old, who was competing in the race for the first time, became the first Frenchwoman to win the Tour de France since its inception in 2022.
After blitzing the field to take the penultimate stage and the yellow jersey of the overall race leader on Saturday, the Team Visma-Lease A Bike cyclist dazzled anew over the 124.1km of Sunday's final stage between Praz-sur-Arly and Châtel in south-eastern France.
She finished the course in three hours, 38 minutes and 23 seconds.
The 2023 race winner Demi Vollering was 20 seconds behind. The defending champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney was third.
It was the same order after nine days of racing. Ferrand-Prévot completed the 1168.6km in 29 hours, 54 minutes and 24 seconds.
Vollering, from the FDJ-Suez team was three minutes and 42 seconds behind. Niewiadoma-Phinney, who pipped Vollering to the title by four seconds last year, was four minutes and nine seconds off the pacesetter.
'So happy'
"I was a bit scared of having the pressure of wearing the yellow jersey," Ferrand-Prévot told reporters. "I had to stick to the front and just stay there.
"I said to the team's sporting director this morning, I would like to win in yellow, so I’m so, so happy."
Ferrand-Prévot seized control of the race on Saturday after a sensational scorch through the mountains between Chambéry Saint-François Longchamp and Col de Madeleine in south-eastern France.
And on Sunday, Ferrand-Prévot negotiated the array of pitfalls before making her move in the last seven kilometres.
She responded to Vollering's attack and, to the delight of the partisans, surged away. She crossed the finishing line unchallenged.
Among the other race honours, Lorena Wiebes, of SD Worx-Protime, ended as the cyclist with the most points and Elise Chabbey, who rides for the FDJ-Suez team, claimed the polka dot jersey of the "queen of the mountains".
Nienke Vinke, of the Picnic-Post NL team, won the white jersey as best young rider in the 2025 race.
