Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot returned to road racing in 2025 with one specific goal \u2013 to win the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.<\/p>\n
And since she did it in such spectacular fashion on her first time of trying, she\u2019s back to do it again in 2026.<\/p>\n
Speaking Wednesday, the 34-year-old said she\u2019s left no stone unturned in a meticulous preparation program with only one acceptable outcome \u2013 another yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting the Tour as the defending champion is something very special. It\u2019s something I\u2019m incredibly proud of,\u201d Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot said. \u201cAt the same time, last year\u2019s victory doesn\u2019t guarantee anything this time around. Everyone starts from scratch again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done everything I could to arrive at the start in the best possible shape. Together with the team, we\u2019ve prepared meticulously, and I\u2019ve received tremendous support from everyone around me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s about trusting that preparation and being ready when the Tour gets underway in Lausanne.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot decides she wants to win something, she makes it happen \u2013 just look at her dominant victory last year at the Femmes.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why everything the Frenchwoman has done so far this season in her minimal racing schedule has been only a side-quest on the road to the grand d\u00e9part.<\/em><\/p>\n An off-key performance at the Vuelta Feminina doesn\u2019t bother Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s multi-discipline star.<\/p>\n The maillot jaune<\/em> is all that matters.<\/p>\n \u201cMy season goal was to be at 100 percent of my ability here,\u201d Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot said in a pre-race press conference. \u201cI wasn\u2019t aiming for victories in other races.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to prepare specifically for the Tour, and that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot will land in Lausanne for the grand d\u00e9part<\/em> on Saturday with lungs full of thin air.<\/p>\n She just spent weeks sucking high-altitude Alpine air on a training camp in Tignes, mirroring her prep for the Tour last year.<\/p>\n In 2025, PFP\u2019s Tour de France bootcamp transformed her from a mountain-biking Paris-Roubaix champion to the god-tier climber that blew Demi Vollering away on the Col du Madeleine.<\/p>\n Team manager Rutger Tijssen said Wednesday that \u201cProject Yellow\u201d had to evolve with the times for 2026.<\/p>\n The individual time trial returns to the parcours after it was omitted last year, and it throws a spanner into the Frenchwoman\u2019s title defense.<\/p>\n Time trialing is the chink in Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s armor. It stands to be exploited by powerhouse rivals like Vollering, Anna van der Breggen, and Marlen Reusser.<\/p>\n \u201cPauline has had a long and excellent preparation,\u201d Tijssen said. \u201cSince the Vuelta, she\u2019s focused heavily on sharpening her race fitness.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also worked extensively on her time trialing with the help of several specialists. Now it\u2019s a matter of seeing how that preparation translates into race conditions,\u201d he said. \u201cA time trial is always different from training or simulation, but we\u2019re confident in the work we\u2019ve done and can\u2019t wait to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot can balance any losses in the stage 4 time trial with a climbing rout on Mont Ventoux on stage 7 could be a decisive factor in the race for yellow.<\/p>\n Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot shares the status of favorite for the 2026 Tour de France Femmes with Vollering.<\/p>\n After twice placing second following her 2023 victory, the Dutchwoman has a lot of unfinished business at her FDJ-Suez team\u2019s home race.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Visma-Lease a Bike is rolling out a grand tour dream team for a battle royale between the peloton\u2019s two superstars.<\/p>\n Marianne Vos and top climbers Marion Bunel and Femke De Vries will be among the names providing PFP with superdomestique support for the 9-day race.<\/p>\n \u201cOur entire plan is built around achieving the best possible general classification with Pauline. The team has been selected to ensure Pauline is supported on every type of terrain,\u201d Tijssen said Wednesday.<\/p>\n Tijssen said riders like \u201cthe GOAT\u201d Vos \u2013 already a green jersey and 3-time stage-winner \u2013 will see their own chances.<\/p>\n But they might be limited in a team that\u2019s bloodymindedly focused on GC.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re targeting stage victories again this year, but the general classification is, without question, our number one priority,\u201d Tijssen said.<\/p>\n Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot insisted Wednesday that she feels no pressure heading into her title defense. She\u2019s already gotten a yellow jersey, a Paris-Roubaix cobblestone, and too many world champions\u2019 bands to count.<\/p>\n A second Tour de France title won\u2019t change her life or define her career.<\/p>\n But unlike her rivals who spread their bets through the season and have already reaped huge GC wins, it\u2019s all or nothing for PFP.<\/p>\n The last eight months mean nothing without another maillot jaune<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tour-de-france-femmes\/ferrand-prevot-win-bust-tour-de-france-femmes\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_1202-2.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated July 30, 2026 04:22AM Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot returned to road racing in 2025 with one specific goal \u2013 to win the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. And since she did it in such spectacular fashion on her first time of trying, she\u2019s back to do it again in 2026. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2068870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2068870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2068870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2068870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2068870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Repeating the winning blueprint, with a TT twist<\/h2>\n
![\"Vollering\"](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_1065-1200x750.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
\u2018Our entire plan is built around the best possible general classification\u2019<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_4673-1200x800.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
\u2018No pressure\u2019 on an all-or-nothing season<\/h2>\n
![\"French](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_8565-1200x800.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")