Her Olympic gold medal was still burning when Pauline Ferrand-Prévot imagined a surprise that would set the cycling autumn on fire. On vacation, she? Especially not. A few days after his consecration in the mountain bike event at the Paris Games, on July 28 in Elancourt (Yvelines), he had an idea. “A little surprised”Paul Brousse, coach of the French Cycling Federation, receives your call. The mountain biker, “very motivated”He tells him that he wants to return to road competitions. Immediately: “PFP”, his diminutive, requests participation in the world championship, scheduled two months later.
Of what act. On Saturday, September 28, at 12:45 p.m., you will be at the start of the test held on a very mountainous 154-kilometer route around Zurich (Switzerland). “It’s a small bet, both for her and for us!” » acknowledges Paul Brousse. The Olympic champion also declared that she will seek a victory in the Tour de France Femmes starting in the 2025 season. In this sense, she will leave her current British team, Ineos Grenadiers, to join the Dutch structure Visma-Lease a Bike. But he doesn’t plan to wait until the next competitions in February to test himself.
The national coach of the women’s road team it took fifteen days “think”. How can you say no to this 32-year-old cyclist, crowned world champion fifteen times in four disciplines, on the road, in mountain biking (individual or relay), in cyclocross and, as the latest addition, gravel, which is running along the roads and through the fields? “PFP” fully meets the criteria, starting with the “International experience” box.
a lot to lose
At the end of September, the person left his home on the French Riviera for the greasy drizzle of Zurich. She has a lot to lose in this quick return to the highest discipline of cycling, where she was already world champion in 2014, winning after a huge sprint on the Ponferrada circuit (Spain). The “PFP” has not run a national road test since 2021 and, at the level internationally, since 2018… The “small bet” It’s a euphemism.
On Tuesday afternoon, September 24, in a hotel in the Swiss countryside, a good hour from Lake Zurich, where the finish line will be set, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot exchanged a few words with a regular from the French team. Audrey Cordon-Ragot, soon to be retired, eleven-time French road champion, wanted to convey her encouragement and a little advice to us: “Go ahead, don’t waste time!” Don’t expect respect from your competitors, especially the younger generation! For young people, it doesn’t matter what your record is and what you represent in cycling. Don’t be nice to them! They have fangs and will not forgive you. »
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