Making her debut at Paris-Roubaix Femmes this past weekend, Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) delivered a race-winning move that was equal parts gutsy and perfectly timed. After bridging across to Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek), she dropped the Dane decisively on the Camphin-en-Pévèle cobbles, rode clear, and never looked back—soloing into the Roubaix velodrome with nearly a minute’s advantage.
Behind her, Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) slipped away in the final kilometer to take a surprise second place, while Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) sprinted to third ahead of Marianne Vos.
It was a masterclass in team tactics and individual brilliance, all the more remarkable given that Ferrand-Prévot hadn’t even planned to start.
Illness to iconic victory
Ferrand-Prévot’s win was never part of the original plan. Battling illness during the week leading up to the race, she’d missed key training sessions and was only cleared to ride the morning of the event.
“I wasn’t sure this morning if I should participate,” she said after the finish. “We said, OK, I’ll start, and worst-case scenario, I’ll help Marianne [Vos].”
That’s how the day began: riding in service of her legendary teammate, with no personal ambitions. But when Ferrand-Prévot crashed before Mons-en-Pévèle and had to chase back, something clicked. “When we came back, I just tried to attack,” she said. “After I had a gap, I just went full gas until the end.”
With Vos in the group behind—marking moves and stalling any organised chase—Ferrand-Prévot was free to ride her own race. And what a ride it was.
High-speed drama over the cobbles
As always in Roubaix, the race truly began on the cobblestones. Early breakaway riders Quinty Ton (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Aurela Nerlo (Winspace Orange Seal) had built a gap of nearly three minutes heading into sector 17, but it never felt like the peloton was going to give them too much leeway.
Lidl-Trek’s Ellen van Dijk took matters into her own hands on sector 16, launching a strong solo bridge effort and setting a punishing tempo that quickly changed the dynamic at the front. Sector by sector, the race exploded: crashes, mechanicals, and splits shredded the field. One of those crashes involved Ferrand-Prévot, who went down on the treacherous Auchy-les-Orchies à Bersée sector and momentarily lost contact.
Up front, Van Dijk continued to power ahead solo, but the favorites were stirring. Wiebes and Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) pushed the pace, dragging Vos across and setting up a select lead group. Canyon-SRAM’s Chloé Dygert and a few others joined them, but the group dynamics were tense—no one was fully committing, and plenty of glances over shoulders.
Eventually, things came back together, and for a brief moment, more than 20 riders were in contention, heading into the final 35 kilometers.
That’s when Norsgaard launched her move.
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The move that made the race
With 32 kilometers to go, Norsgaard jumped clear and quickly opened a gap. The reaction behind was slow—perhaps uncertainty, perhaps fatigue—and suddenly, she had 36 seconds. It was Ferrand-Prévot who took up the chase. She attacked solo, bridged across with power and purpose, and didn’t wait around long. As they hit Camphin-en-Pévèle, she dropped Norsgaard like a stone and set off alone.
On the legendary Carrefour de l’Arbre sector, Ferrand-Prévot continued to build her advantage—58 seconds clear as she exited the five-star pavé. Behind her, the chase was marked by confusion and conflicting ambitions. Vos, still playing the team game, wasn’t about to lead a charge to her teammate, and SD Worx-Protime had their own internal puzzle: should Kopecky chase for Wiebes or protect their multiple options?
By the time anyone decided to commit, it was too late.
A velodrome to remember
Rolling into the Roubaix velodrome alone is every rider’s dream. Doing it on your debut while making history for your country is something else entirely.
“I can only say, whoa! I did it. We did it together,” Ferrand-Prévot said, clearly emotional as her teammates swarmed her after the line. “This is so special. My boyfriend [Dylan van Baarle] won three years ago, and now we have two cobblestones at home. That’s pretty cool.”
A new chapter on the road
While Ferrand-Prévot is no stranger to winning—she’s a multiple-time world champion in both road and mountain biking—her return to road racing this year was always meant to be exploratory. After a second-place finish at the Tour of Flanders and now a win in Roubaix, that comeback is beginning to look more like a serious campaign.
“My first year back on the road was to see what I could do,” she said. “Now I’m really enjoying it. The Tour de France Femmes is the big goal. I want to try to win it within the next three years.”
That’s where her focus now shifts. But before she starts tackling long climbs and GC ambitions, Ferrand-Prévot will savor this one: a classic win on the cobbles, a surprise to many—including herself—and a moment that will go down in French cycling history.
After all, she wasn’t even supposed to ride.
