Pauline Ferrand-Prévot cycled to victory in the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday, becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the iconic race since the reestablishment of the women’s edition four years ago.
After nine days of racing, the 33-year-old Olympic cross-country champion finished three minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Demi Vollering of the Netherlands and more than four minutes ahead of last year’s winner, Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Poland.
“This stage was really difficult,” she said of the ninth and final stage in the Alpine region of Haute-Savoie. “But I was determined to win here wearing the yellow jersey. It’s a dream come true.”
After concentrating primarily on cross-country cycling for the past seven years, Ferrand-Prévot – nicknamed “PFP” – shifted her focus to the road this season, winning the prestigious Paris-Roubaix race in northern France in April and also making the podium in the Tour des Flandres in Belgium (second place) and the Strade Bianche in Italy (third).
She abandoned the La Vuelta Femenina in Spain in May, judging herself to be short of form and wanting to concentrate on the upcoming Tour de France – a wise decision, as it turned out.
“I remember telling my mother that I wanted to be a boy so that I could compete in the Tour de France,” she said ahead of the start of the race in Vannes on the Atlantic coast in northwestern France two weeks ago.
“But now it’s possible as a woman. That’s why I came back to road racing, just to do Le Tour.”
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
