Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has perceived her announcement and crowned the first French touring winner for 36 years. But the German drivers can also with theirs Tour de France Femmes be satisfied.
The tears came to her in the last few hundred meters: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot did what she had announced full-bodied. She wanted to win the Tour de France Femmes within three years, and in the first year of her comeback she is now the best driver of the France tour of France on the podium. And thus puts an entire country in rapture.
This also includes President Emmanuel Macronthe Ferrand Prévot still in the Mixed zone called during the first interviews. France’s new cycling hero thanked for the nice words, then she was finally allowed to celebrate at the award ceremony. Incidentally, in the presence of Jeannie Longo, who was the last French woman to win the Tour de France. That was 36 years ago.
The start number 51 brings happiness
During her triumphal trip to the tour win, Ferrand-Prévot wore the start number 51, which held a bit of the reputation of a lucky charm. This may be because such cycling legends as Eddie Merckx, Bernard Hinault and also Bernard Thévenetwho is the personal congratulations in Chat Also did not let them take them, they had already worn their tours. But it also shows what the tour organizers about race director Marion Rousse trust her compatriot in advance.
With the tour victory, Ferrand-Prévot has her already glamorous career-before she returned to the street at the beginning of the year, she was put on the crown in 2024 Olympic champion on the mountain bike. “The Olympic victory was the victory I needed to be able to describe my career as successful. The victory at the Tour de France was a childhood dream and rather the freestyle.” Ferrand-Prévot also had a message for young cyclists. “You have to believe in your dreams and work hard for it. Even if you have moments of doubt, moments when you are not doing so well, you have to keep going and keep going.”
The tour of the French women
In general, it was the days of the French. Four of the nine stages went to the motherland of the tour-Ferrand-Prévot won twice, twice the boy Maeva Squiban. And France also cuts off well in the overall ranking. Juliette Labous and Cédrine Kerbaol End the race as seventh or eighth, Evitá Muzic Runs the good result with tenth place. Ferrand-Prévot also found that. “It was clearly a great success. The two stage wins in Maëva were incredible. And Juliette also did a great job today. Our French really drive at a high level.”
Demi full ring and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, on the other hand, have to be satisfied with the places behind Ferrand-Prévot. But while the laugh was bad during the award ceremony, Niewiadoma-Phinney, who drives for the German World Team Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto for the German WorldTour team. Both drivers have been on the podium every year since the new edition of the Tour de France Femmes 2022 – an impressive series.
Koch drives into the spotlight
Of the seven German drivers who were at the start at this year’s Tour de France Femmes, one drove into the spotlight that probably had very few on the bill. Franziska Koch traveled as a German master for the tour of France. She was named the most active driver twice after spending several kilometers in outlier groups. The award meant a lot to her told the sports show before the start of the stage. “It showed me that if you take your heart in your hand, you can also achieve something. I really take a lot of self -confidence from France.”
Ricarda Bauernfeind can also say that. The tourist winner of 2023 celebrated her comeback on a big stage at this year’s Tour de France Femmes. The 25-year-old failed for almost a year because of a stubborn knee injury. It is all the more impressive your performance, thanks to which her captain Niewiadoma-Phinney also made the jump to the podium. “I just wanted to drive over the finish line in chatel and now I did it. I’m no longer the injured person, that’s behind me”according to Bauernfeind, who was the 32nd best German in the overall ranking.
The hardest race of the year
Liane Lippert has to think about how the tour was for her. This is not surprising, since not everything went as planned for your team Movistar. Lippert’s captain Marlen Reusser was actually considered one of the favorites for the overall victory, while the Germans were supposed to ensure daily successes, especially on the first stages. But only Lippert crashed at the start of the tour and then Reusser also got out of the race because of food poisoning. “It is really a shame that we lost all chances of the overall classification right from the start and drive home without a podium”she finally replied. “But we made the best of it and didn’t give up.”
Not everyone can say that. For the first time, the Tour de France Femmes was held for nine days, 117 of the 154 starters reached the goal in Chatel. A hard race, as Clara Koppenburg told. “Every stage was really very hard this year. It was driven so quickly and the past few days were still very demanding with all the mountains”According to the driver from the French team Cofidis, who celebrated her 30th birthday on the final day.
Only admiration for Ferrand-Prévot
The German drivers have only words of admiration for Ferrand-Prévot. “It is one of the best performances ever in women’s cycling”says Lippert. “She definitely deserves this. You can hear her name everywhere and signs on the whole route were signs for her. All of France is thrilled”describes Koppenburg. The country will probably stay a little longer, because Ferrand-Prévot still has a lot plans.
“I still want to win the Flanders’ tour and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Cycling is simply my life. Even if I trained so hard for this tour that I alone think about doing the same thing again, just think: Oh no, I don’t want that!” Said Ferrand-Prévot and announced after the press conference to want to eat a pizza. It was granted to her.