Pauline Ferrand-prévot Storms To Stage Success On Way To Tour De France Femmes Title

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot confirmed an exuberant wide triumph successful nan Tour de France Femmes successful style, pinch her 2nd mountain-stage triumph successful Châtel Les Portes du Soleil. Amid euphoric scenes, Ferrand-Prévot, golden medallist astatine nan Paris Olympics past year, followed up her lone triumph connected nan Col de la Madeleine connected Saturday pinch different solo utilization successful nan Tour’s last stage.

Ferrand-Prévot becomes nan first French rider to triumph nan Tour de France Femmes, 36 years aft her compatriot Jeannie Longo won nan Tour de France Féminin, though that title did not comparison pinch nan scale, trouble and world renown of nan latest incarnation. Suddenly, aft waiting 40 years for a successor to Bernard Hinault successful nan men’s Tour, each France is now enamoured by women’s cycling and pinch nan 33-year-old from Reims, who was called wrong minutes of confirming her triumph by nan French president, Emmanuel Macron.

Ferrand-Prévot’s achievement, of winning nan Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix successful nan aforesaid year, and some wrong 12 months of winning an Olympic golden badge for upland biking, confirms her versatility and ambition. With nan Olympic rings tattooed connected her arm, she had reverted to roadworthy racing from upland biking and stated that it was her ambition to triumph nan Tour wrong 3 years. She did it successful one.

“I deliberation I put nan barroom really precocious this twelvemonth successful position of preparing for this race,” she said. “There person been a batch of sacrifices. Now I conscionable want to bask nan moment, because it mightiness only hap once.”

The penning was connected nan wall moreover connected shape one, erstwhile she jumped clear of nan peloton connected nan last climb of nan Côte de Cadoudal successful Plumelec, pinch a crisp acceleration. But she bided her clip and has remained calm and contained throughout, moreover during nan mid-race nationalist spat betwixt her squad manager, Jos van Emden, and Demi Vollering’s squad manager, Stephen Delcourt.

For 7 of nan 9 stages she remained discreet, but erstwhile her infinitesimal came she was ready. If her first shape win, connected nan Madeleine connected Saturday, confirmed nan earlier impressions of her velocity successful Plumelec, her triumph successful Châtel emphasised her dominance.

“I’d said to nan sports board this greeting that if I could triumph successful yellowish past I’d effort to,” she said. “It each came down to really I felt connected nan past climb. I attacked but I didn’t deliberation I’d beryllium capable to support going for illustration that and win.”

As nan last shape began location were, initially, immoderate nerves and Ferrand-Prévot was put nether unit almost instantly arsenic she mislaid crushed pinch nan main peloton connected nan agelong descent from nan commencement to Sallanches.

“I made a correction connected nan first descent,” she said. “I deliberation I was conscionable a spot frightened pinch nan unit of nan jersey, truthful afterwards I stayed adjacent to nan beforehand and made an effort to enactment there.”

French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot had double origin to celebrate, claiming shape 9 and nan wide title. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

But nan title leader rejoined nan main group connected nan attack to nan first climb, nan Cote d’Arâches-la-Frasse. Even earlier apical of nan first class climb a action had been made pinch nan favourites each moving up of nan splintering bunch, successful pursuit of nan lone breakaway, Anna van der Breggen.

The Dutch rider, 12th wide arsenic nan shape began, built up a adjacent two-minute lead connected nan attack to nan hardest climb of nan stage, nan Col de Joux-Plane. Behind her nan main peloton dwindled further aft Cédrine Kerbaol, past 5th overall, collapsed astatine nan ft of nan climb and was distanced quickly.

The Joux-Plane’s gradients reduced nan lead group to conscionable 7 riders, including Ferrand-Prévot, second-placed Sarah Gigante, nan 2023 winner, Vollering, and nan defending champion, Kasia Niewiadoma.

Five kilometres from nan top, Gigante accelerated, taking her rivals pinch her, but arsenic connected Saturday’s climb, to nan apical of nan Madeleine, nan Australian was not capable to unfastened a gap. Instead, it was Vollering and Niewiadoma who mixed connected nan accelerated descent to region Gigante, successful nan dream of pushing her retired of nan Tour’s apical three. By nan ft of nan descent they had succeeded and she was ne'er capable to recover.

Vollering, 2nd overall, and Niewiadoma, who vanished third, person shown singular consistency. They person appeared connected nan podium successful each version of nan Tour de France Femmes since its inauguration successful 2022. But this past week was each astir nan rebirth of French cycling. With nan yellowish jersey positive 4 shape wins retired of 9 days of racing, 2 for Ferrand-Prévot and 2 for nan irrepressible Maëva Squiban, nan hosts person dominated. There is, astatine agelong last, life aft Hinault.