Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will not have great memories of her return to the road. The Frenchwoman abandoned the road race at the World Championships on Saturday in Zurich with around fifty kilometers remaining. The Olympic mountain bike champion in Paris was quickly left behind, 80 km from the finish, under downpours. She ended up dismounting, just like her compatriots Léa Curinier and Jade Wiel to return to the French team bus, we learned from management.
After the race, “PFP” explained what had happened to him. “I wanted to eat a lot to prepare for the end of the race but I was not able to digest it at all. I vomited, so there it was, it wasn’t possible“, she revealed. In these conditions, it is therefore impossible to believe in a second world road title, ten years after the first.
Labous: “I made a few extra efforts to be good on the last lap”
I haven’t run on the road for years, it will take time for that to come back
But Ferrand-Prévot knew that the task would be very complicated anyway before starting this Saturday. “It’s a mixed start, because I thought I would do better. But it’s been years since I last raced on the road and it will take time for that to come back. It just makes me want to work more for the winter“, said “PFP” who will join the Visma-Lease a bike team in 2025 with the ambition of winning the Tour de France in the next three years. “Even with long runs in training, I haven’t done runs this long in a long time. I’m more disappointed for the team, I would have liked to do better“, she added.
Beyond the ordeal experienced by the Olympic mountain bike champion in Paris, the French women did not really shine in this road race. Léo Curinier and Jade Wiel also had to abandon, while Juliette Labous failed to secure the podium or even a Top 10 (first Blue in 12th place).
“We hoped for better, that’s for sure. We weren’t there to finish 12th. But we find Juliette a little alone at the end. We lacked labor“, regretted coach Paul Brousse. It’s up to Thomas Voeckler’s men, brilliant during the last Olympic Games with the silver and bronze medals of Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte, to do better on Sunday for the men’s race.
