Cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prevor is poised to claim victory in the 2025 Tour de France women's event following her unfaithfulness towards fellow competitor Madeleine.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot on the Brink of Tour de France Victory
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, a 33-year-old French cycling sensation, is within touching distance of her dream of winning the Tour de France. After an exceptional multi-discipline career, Ferrand-Prévot has dominated the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, and is expected to win her first Tour de France on Sunday, August 3rd, unless there's a major collapse from her.
Ferrand-Prévot started her professional road racing career in 2012 with Rabobank, and has since raced for Canyon-SRAM, Ineos Grenadiers off-road, and Visma-Lease a Bike on the road. She is uniquely accomplished in road cycling, mountain biking, cyclocross, and gravel cycling, having won 15 elite UCI World Championship titles across these disciplines.
In the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, Ferrand-Prévot has demonstrated her versatility and strength, winning the overall classification decisively. She dominated the race, with a three-minute lead over Demi Vollering and Katarzyna Niewiadoma, the last two Tour winners.
On Saturday, Ferrand-Prévot clung to the first attacker, Australian climber Sarah Gigante, for 10 kilometers from the finish of the stage. She approached the climb like a mountain bike race, trying to get as close to her "red zone" as possible without "ever crossing it." Ferrand-Prévot's success was built patiently throughout the first week of racing.
The remaining stage in the Alps is 124 kilometers long, with two first-category climbs and one climb beyond category (Joux-Plane). The gap between Ferrand-Prévot and the second-place finisher, Sarah Gigante, was 1 minute 45 seconds at the end of Saturday's stage. If Ferrand-Prévot doesn't crack in the remaining hilly stages, she will be the first Frenchwoman to win the Tour de France since Jeannie Longo in 1989.
Ferrand-Prévot's career history includes being a world champion on road, off-road, and gravel, an Olympic gold medalist in mountain biking, and in 2025, a dominant winner of the Tour de France Femmes, fulfilling a lifelong dream and solidifying her legacy across all cycling disciplines.
This year's Tour de France Femmes featured a challenging stage called The Madeleine Pass, which included a steep, irregular climb, a cliff edge, a total elevation gain of 1,500 meters, and a summit finish. On the first stage, Ferrand-Prévot found herself alone and pushed too hard, dropping her teammate Marianne Vos and other riders. But Ferrand-Prévot learned from her mistake and has since ridden smartly, following other riders during the first week, avoiding crashes and grabbing bonuses when possible.
If Ferrand-Prévot achieves her dream of winning the Tour de France, it may have taken her only one year, as she had given herself three years to achieve the feat. Ferrand-Prévot expressed her desire to return to road racing a year ago, with the goal of winning the Tour de France. On Thursday, she said she had "hidden" all day to save energy for the Alps.
In summary, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s career history includes being a world champion on road, off-road, and gravel, an Olympic gold medalist in mountain biking, and in 2025, a dominant winner of the Tour de France Femmes, fulfilling a lifelong dream and solidifying her legacy across all cycling disciplines. If she wins on Sunday, she will be the first Frenchwoman to win the Tour de France since Jeannie Longo in 1989.
- Despite her versatility in various cycling disciplines, including road cycling, mountain biking, and cyclocross, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's dream now centers on a Tour de France victory.
- If Ferrand-Prévot manages to claim victory in the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, she will become a multi-discipline world champion, Olympic gold medalist, and Tour de France winner, cementing her status as an all-time great in sports.
