Women's Tour de France winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot targeted the defence of her crown next year after confirming she will miss next month’s world championships in Rwanda to focus on the European championships in October in central France.
The Team Visma – Lease a Bike rider suggested one Tour was enough this year after putting herself through a gruelling training regime to prepare for the nine-stage race.
Her sacrifices paid off in front of home fans. The 33-year-old, who had faced criticism over her lean frame, dominated the final two days to claim the race on 3 August and confirm her place as one of the biggest stars of her generation.
A year after winning Olympic gold in mountain biking and a few months after taking the Paris–Roubaix, she claimed cycling’s most prestigious women’s road race at her first attempt. She became the first Frenchwoman to win the reconfigured event since it replaced the Tour de France féminine in 2022.
"I want to fight again to win it," Ferrand-Prévôt told reporters during a victory celebration reception at the Team Visma – Lease a Bike headquarters in Den Bosch, in the Netherlands.
Ruling out the world championships in Kigali on 27 September – the first to be held in Africa – she said: "I had to make a smart decision.
"I also wanted to enjoy the post-tour success. If I had wanted to be in Rwanda, I would already have started preparing for it and would already be at altitude.
"But in fact, I also need to take a break, to enjoy myself so that I can be better in the years to come. It's important to savour the moment and start preparing a little later."
Relaxed and tanned after a holiday with family and friends, Ferrand-Prévot said she will return to competition on 30 August in Morbihan in Brittany at the Classic Lorient Agglomération.
She plans to race the six stages of the Tour de l’Ardèche from 10 September before targeting the European road championships in Drôme–Ardèche between 1 and 5 October.
National pride at Tour de France
Frenchwoman Maeva Squiban took the sixth and seventh stage of the 2025 race to send the locals wild as Kimberley Le Court Pienaar from Mauritius wore the yellow jersey of the overall race leader.
But in the mountains of south-eastern France, it turned into the Ferrand-Prévot show.
She outwitted her rivals during the 111.9km course between Chambéry Saint-François Longchamp and Col de la Madeleine to win a stage for the first time and take the yellow jersey with a two-and-a half minute lead over Sarah Gigante.
There were no slip-ups in the dénouemont. She displayed dash and panache between Praz-sur-Arly and Châtel to cross the finish line unchallenged and enter French cycling legend.
In the afterglow of her success, Ferrand-Prévot was asked to talk to her younger self.
Time to talk
“I want to tell her that you need to believe in your dreams," she said. "You need to work hard to make it happen – you don’t get things for free in life.
“When you work hard, it pays off. Even when you have doubts and low moments, you need to persevere and keep going. That’s what I’d say.”
After retiring from mountain biking, Ferrand-Prévot returned to road racing this season with the aim of winning the Tour de France within three years and she lost weight as part of the plan to realise her goal.
During the celebrations in Den Bosch, she again tackled the controversy over her weight. "We have chefs, we have everything," she told journalists.
"It’s our job to be the best possible for that day. Everyone can think what they want, and everyone is able to speak loud and say what they want to say. For me, I don’t feel like I’m sick. I just prepared for the biggest race of the calendar in the best way possible.
“It’s up to the parents to educate kids and to explain. We are professional athletes, so it’s our job to be the best possible. You have to find a way to do that. The last two days of the tour were very difficult and the watts per kilogram were very important."
Eleven years ago, Ferrand-Prévot won the road race at the world championships in Ponferrada in Spain. A world title in the mixed mountain bike relay followed.
In 2015, she amassed world titles in cyclo-cross and mountain bike cross-country to become the first cyclist to hold world crowns in all three disciplines simultaneously.
Ten years on, This year, she became the first woman to win both the Paris-Roubaix and the women’s Tour de France in the same season.
A first European championships crown would simply add another page to her legend.
