“Pauline, you’re going to win the tour!” It sounds in French. It is Friday, the Tour of France arrived in Bourg-en-Bresse and will enter the Alps in a few hours. At the bus of the Dutch team Visma-Lease A Bike (Lab), teen fans gather to take a look at the French leader Pauline Ferrand-Pred in the Bordrand-Pred.). letters’Allez Pauline‘ on top.
Laughing Ferrand-Prévot gets out of the bus. Her hair is in a bun, her eyes are hidden behind a fluorescent green-yellow glasses. She hands out a few signatures to the public that has been waiting in the burning sun for a long time. With the heavy final weekend on the way, she is second in the rankings, 26 seconds behind the Mauritian Kim Le Court.
At Visma-Lab they are used to something, but this week everything surpasses. “I knew that Pauline was a big Madame. But so big?” Says team leader Jos van Emden. Rider Femke de Vries remembers the crowds that came to the team at the Tourstart in Rotterdam last year: “Then it was bizarre, but this is really another step. I think I will lie awake at night from the ‘Allez Pauline’.” ‘Allez Pau Pau’ constantly sounds along the road, a variant of the still popular cycling encouragement ‘Allez Poupou’, once devised for the French rider Raymond Poulidor.
Ferrand-Prévot has a superstar status in France. She was only 23 years old when in 2015 she became the first woman to be world champion in three disciplines at the same time (road cycling, mountain biking and cyclocross). In 2019 she focused entirely on mountain biking, which brought her twelve golden World Cup medals. A year ago she experienced the peak in her career: Olympic gold at the Games in Paris.
She wanted to return to the road for the Tour de France. “When I was young, I told my mother that I wanted to be a boy so that I could cycle the tour.” In the early days of her career, there was not yet a round of France for women. Only four years ago, the current set-up was born, just after Ferrand-Prévot had specialized in mountain biking.
The connection with Visma-Lab was made last year. Ferrand-Prévot has a relationship with cyclist Dylan van Baarle, who comes out for the men’s team, and knew thanks to him what she could expect. “She reported to the team with the announcement that she wanted to go for the best possible result in the Tour,” says team manager Rutger Tijssen. “We said: we are taking on that challenge. You are an excellent athlete, but want to take the time for it. A nine -day stage race is very different from mountain biking.” And so Ferrand-Prévot formulated her ambition: “I want to win the Tour within three years.”
Saturday July 26: Grand Départ
The French who are in the starting place of Vannes along the road on Saturday wonder how far she can get this year. For Ferrand-Prévot, the opening weekend in the Breton hills will be all about body preservation. She does not want to lose any time in the general classification, or end up in an unfortunate fall.
She explored the stages in advance in detail. From every important bend she knows how it runs, and where she should be sitting from the front. It is an approach that she has taken from mountain biking, where knowledge of every beam or board on the course can make the difference. She also knows the Côte de Cadoudal, the steep final climb in the opening ride. She attacks on the steep piece, after which her teammate Marianne Vos wins and conquers the yellow jersey.
After the line, Vos seems to apologize for a moment: with her late Jump, she was hunted by her teammate. But she couldn’t do anything else, because Kim Le Court also stormed at the finish. The two Visma-riders need few words to understand each other, says Vos. As a young people in their twenties, they drove at Rabobank, where Kasia Niewiadoma also made his debut in the Profpeloton. “We were young and had a lot of fun together,” last year’s Polish Tour winner recalls. “Pauline shows that she is one of the best riders.”
Ferrand-Prévot is happy for Vos after the finish. Earlier this year, the Dutch hair helped with the victory in Paris-Roubaix, now she was able to give something back. But above all the Frenchwoman is not waiting for the yellow sweater at all. “It may sound stupid, but that only puts extra pressure on,” she says after the finish.
France has been dreaming of a new tour winner for years. Among the men, hope was for a long time on Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, it is currently more likely that a woman will continue the last French Tour victory of Jeannie Longo (1989).
Wednesday, July 30: Guéret
In Guéret, Ferrand-Prévot crosses the line of seven classification riders. The peloton has had a few hectic race days, which ended in mass sprints. While Tour favorite Demi Volling fell hard, Ferrand-Prévot was able to squeeze the brakes on time. “We stayed away from the drama.”
After a quick freshening up in the bus, she stoically walks past the clapping audience to her bike for the cooling down. Only after she cared for her body is there time for photos with fans.
Her teammates are impressed by how she is. “She is super clear in what she wants. She also says: girls, I need you on this and that moment. Then you really feel:” I have to be there for Pauline. “I drive with love for her,” says De Vries. The British Imogen Wolff, with 19 years the youngest rider in the peloton, says much of Ferrand-Prévot: “I can go to her with my stupid questions, such as on which side of the road I have to take on my water bottles. But I also look at how she prepares for a big goal like the Tour.” Manager Tijssen: “She does not necessarily tell how something should be done, but shows it. She will never get the edges off. She is focused on a mission.”
Friday, August 1: Chambéry
The seventh stage ends on Friday in Chambéry, after a climb to and descent from the Col du Granier. On the way up, Gaugruidrager Le Court must let the favorites go. Ferrand-Prévot drives virtually in yellow for a moment. Although there is a lot of pace, there is no splash of fatigue on her face. Just like the day before in the Central Massif, she tries to save her powers.
The queen stage is on the program on Saturday, with the arrival at the almost two thousand meter high Col de la Madeleine. Ferrand-Prévot explored the mountain several times, made extra long efforts during training sessions and bought a house at height, in Andorra. But the most important asset is her weight. “To be able to get up a long climb faster, I had to lose a few kilos compared to the spring,” she says. It can be seen in the body of the small Frenchwoman (1.65 meters). Her arms are thinner than thin, her legs block muscle. She now weighs 50 kilos, normally she is about four kilos heavier. For comparison: competitor Volling weighs around 57 kilos. “Lighter is no longer possible,” says Ferrand-Prévot.
Ferrand-Prévot is used to the extreme weight loss. Every year she sets one big goal, for which she loses several kilos in a short period of time by eating less. It is an unorthodox approach that evokes much discussion in the peloton. For example, follow-up and Movistar rider Floortje Mackaij earlier this season the taboo around the menstrual cycle of riders, which is disturbed by many due to the low fat percentages and training work.
“Pauline really wanted to get rid of a few kilos, and I also think it is necessary to be able to go with the favorites,” says manager Tijssen. Together with Ferrand-Prévot, the team was looking for a middle ground, so that the weight loss could take place in a controlled manner. Tijssen does not want to say about it: “She did it with us, in a way that others may wonder: is that the right way? But we leave that in the middle.”
While the Française Maëva Squiban is soloing to her second victory in a row, Le Court will close the gap with the group with Ferrand-Prévot in the descent. She retains the management in the rankings. Not yet yellow for the French public favorite, which also avoids the necessary obligations. “Good for my recovery,” she says, cycling her legs.
That it seemed as if she barely had trouble on the Granier, the final climb of Friday, makes her laugh. “Pokerface,” she says. Ready for the battle uphill.