Often in the shadow of the boys, in the media and in the results, the French women’s team was entitled, on Thursday, to a relay that it is not necessarily used to. In the ranks of the selection selected by Paul Brousse, we impatiently awaited the first words of a star of the summer: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
At 32, the Rémoise returned to road racing after years of crushing the competition in mountain biking and an Olympic title which was the last stone to add to her work.
“I want to win the Tour de France”
Finally satisfied, “PFP” can embark on the last major challenge of her career, which she repeated Thursday evening during the team’s press conference: “ My goal will be to win the Tour de France in the next three years. I know it’s not going to happen overnight. The Worlds will also be a way for me to get my bearings. »
Within the Federation, as soon as the champion announced her intention to return to the road, it was obvious that she would be summoned to Switzerland. While knowing that his incredible talent cannot work an immediate miracle either. “ She has to get her bearings again, learn to ride in a peloton again. You shouldn’t put too much pressure on him either. », tells us Paul Brousse.
Ferrand-Prévot agrees and affirms that it comes above all “ in a collective spirit » : « In terms of wattage, I think I’m not far from the best; in terms of placement, there is more work. As with nutrition. A mountain bike race is 1 hour 20 minutes. Here, it’s four hours or a little more. I don’t think I’m at Juliette’s level (Labous) or avoid (Music) at the end of the race. That’s why if Paul asks me to ride, I will, and I would like to help as much as possible until the end. »
World champion in 2014
Having left for training in Andorra just after winning her Olympic title, Ferrand-Prévot will indeed be far from being the favorite, especially against champions like Demi Vollering or Lotte Kopecky. But no one has forgotten that before investing fully in mountain biking, she was world road champion in 2014, becoming the first French woman to win such a title since Jeannie Longo in 1995.
To follow live on France 3, from 12:55 p.m., and on Eurosport 1, from 12:45 p.m.
