{"id":199269,"date":"2025-08-05T10:39:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T10:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=199269"},"modified":"2025-08-05T10:39:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T10:39:21","slug":"pauline-ferrand-prevots-tdffaz-performance-will-change-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/08\/05\/pauline-ferrand-prevots-tdffaz-performance-will-change-cycling\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot Effect: How Her Superstar Performance Will Change Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s dominant victory in the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (TdFFaZ), and especially the manner in which she won \u2013 obliterating her rivals on the Col de la Madeleine and, the next day, leaving them behind again \u2013 is certain to have important repercussions for the sport of cycling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nowhere more than in France, for this TdFFaZ was a predominantly French success, with French riders winning four of the nine stages and three French riders finishing in the GC top 10. French cycling had waited for a Tour de France winner since 1989, and will now, hopefully, reap the benefits. You just had to see the huge crowds that accompanied Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot on the weekend, especially on Sunday\u2019s final stage, when tens of thousands of spectators lined the roadsides waving placards bearing her name, to understand what her victory means for the country. At last, a French cyclist has dominated the nation\u2019s biggest sporting event in the manner of Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/a> Think of all the young French girls who watched her storm up the slopes of the Col de la Madeleine and thought, \u201cI really want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

French cycling fans haven\u2019t had a real model since Bernard Hinault won five Tours 40 years ago. They do now. French children and adolescents will ask their parents for bikes and will start riding and racing. That will have a knock-on effect on the number of amateur races for male and female junior riders, of which there is currently a scarcity. Ironically, because so much has been made of Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s appearance<\/a> \u2013 she was \u201ctoo skinny,\u201d it \u201cisn\u2019t healthy,\u201d she set \u201ca bad example for young girls\u201d\u00a0\u2013 which was the result of her work ethic and her single-minded push to win the TdFFaZ, I think there will be a renewed desire in France to improve training methods because more young riders will be willing, and perhaps even demanding, to put in the hard work necessary to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my job to be the best as possible,\u201d Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot said. \u201cWe know this is an endurance sport, and to climb, you need to have [high] watts per kilogram. I made the choice. I worked hard for it.\u201d She then said that this wasn\u2019t a lifestyle choice but a controlled programme to win the biggest race in the world. \u201cI don\u2019t want to stay like this,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we also had a good plan with the team\u2019s nutritionist, and everything is in control. I didn\u2019t do anything extreme, and I still had power left after nine days of racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd \u0160koda We Love Cycling (@wlcmagazine)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n