A few days before the kick -off of Tour de France women with zwift (July 26 to August 3), with a large departure planned in Vannes on Saturday, Pauline Ferrand – Prévot expressed itself this Wednesday, July 23 during a long press videoconferencing. After a dazzling start to the season marked by a historic victory over Paris -Roubaix Women In April, the Frenchwoman Visma | Lease a Bike experienced a complicated passage following an ankle injury and several diseases. Absent from the platoons for more than two months, the Olympic mountain bike champion returns more sharp than ever: relaxed, lucid and ambitious, she details her goals, the rise of female cycling … and her lifelong dream: the Tour de France.
“I don't like to live in the past”
How do you feel today?
I finished my internship, and beyond the performance, I will keep a memory for life of this period. We really had a good time.
After your Olympic gold medal, you quickly chose to come back to the road. Why this quick need to revive yourself in a new challenge?
Before the games, I was already wondering what I wanted to do afterwards. For me, it was important to start the games knowing what would wait for me afterwards. I also know that the year following the games is a slightly vague, not always pleasant transition period: we are still three years before the next deadline, and we can quickly feel lost. I didn't want to experience this. So I made the decision to completely change discipline, come back to the road, so as not to sink into this kind of emptiness. It allowed me to have a goal immediately after the games, to remain motivated. And I really don't regret: when the games are still so far, we need to hang on to something else.
This return to road allowed you to turn the page of the games?
Yes, clearly. I don't like to live in the past. Even if it was an incredible moment, I don't want to hang on it constantly. I need to move forward, to progress. What I did was done. Now place in a row. I want to write the rest of my story.
“If I don't win the Tour de France …”
From the first weekend in Brittany, we will have two complicated steps. How do you approach them?
I recognized them. These are two steps that will be difficult. The first is quite short, with small roads, which makes it nervous. And the second is already really hard. We will probably not be able to win the Tour from these two stages, but we can lose it. You will have to remain vigilant, run in front, be on the lookout. The climb of the Madeleine, it will last an hour and a half: there, we are no longer talking about differences in seconds, but in minutes. It will be necessary to find the right balance between being present from the start, without burning too much energy for the end of the tower.
In your career, where do you place the goal of winning the Tour compared to others?
This is a very good question. Winning the games was an obsession. If I hadn't done it, I would have had the feeling of not having completed my career. The tour is different. It is a little girl's dream. It's not an obsession, it's something I want to conquer. If I get there, it will be beautiful. If not, it will not be the end of the world. Unlike games, which were really the goal of my life.
“The last two stages will be very, very hard”
The Col de Joux-Plane arrives on Sunday, quite far from the arrival. How important do you give him?
I am curious to see how the peloton will recover after a stage like that of the Madeleine. Everyone will want to give everything in the last days. Joux-Plane will climb quickly, even if it's shorter and less hard than the Madeleine. There are some steep passages, but overall, it's more rolling. Behind, there is still the Col du Corbier, a descent, and an arrival which is always a little in a plug. The last two stages will be very, very hard. That's why we will have to keep strength.
If an opportunity arises to take the yellow jersey from the start, will you seize it or prefer to delay?
This is a very good question, but it will also be the role of Marianne (VOS) on the first two stages. These are bumps that suit him well. For my part, I am less punchy than during the classics, because I have progressed in long climbs. So we will each have our role: it on the first steps, me for the future.
Your young teammate Marion Bunnel, what do you look at her, and your relationship?
I discovered Marion last year on the World Road. It was a bit of the little baby of the team. I was really happy that she joined Visma. It reminded me of my beginnings at Rabobank, with Marianne (VOS) and Annemiek (Van Vleuten). These are memories that I will keep all my life. I said to myself: if I can do the same for Marion, accompany her, answer her questions, be there if she needs, then I will do it. But she is already very mature, very intelligent, and I realize that it is sometimes she who tells me things. It is a great person, and it is good, as French, to support each other. I remember when I was the only Frenchman at Rabobank, it was not easy at first. I think my presence reassures her a little. Today, it is well integrated, it is a bit of the team's mascot. It is a real pleasure to have it with us.
“When I was little, I was stuck on TV all summer”
The Tour de France, you say it's a little girl's dream. Can you develop what this race represents for you?
When I was little, I was stuck on TV all summer. I followed each step, I had a notebook where I noted the names of the winners. I was collecting runners' cards. The tour was a passion. I was fascinated, and a little disappointed to see that there was no female tower as visible as in men. We did not realize at the time that there was one. The tour was the long holidays, summer, a period that felt freedom. There are a lot of memories that go up with this race.
What are the teams you identify as the most dangerous for the general classification?
There are many. FDJ-SUEZ, of course, which is ultra-favored. Kasia (Niewiadoma) too, with Canyon-Sram: she knows how to prepare for her big objectives perfectly. SD World is always solid. UAE, with Elisa (Longo Borghini), who has just won the Giro. There will be a lot of density this year. It will be a beautiful tour of France, with suspense. It is important. I admit that among men, after the domination of Pogacar, I had detached myself, saying to myself “Well, he has already won.” In girls, I think the suspense will last longer, at least to the Madeleine stage. It's a good thing.
The female peloton evolves quickly. Do you feel it on the road?
Yes, necessarily. Bikes and equipment are changing, but it is above all the density of the peloton that has changed. Ten years ago, we were a dozen to be able to play in front, and the rest of the peloton was much more behind. There was less organization, fewer defined roles. Today, it really has become a team sport. We work together, we discuss the roles of each, we build strategies. It's no longer “you do that, point”. We exchange, we decide together. And I think it's more efficient, more motivating. It is this professionalism that I like in our team.
