Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the Olympic mountain bike gold medalist at Paris 2024, has taken a strong overall lead in the Tour de France Femmes after a stunning solo victory at the summit of the Col de la Madeleine.
With just one stage left in the nine-day race, the 33-year-old from Reims is close to ending France’s 40-year wait for a successor to Bernard Hinault, who last won the men’s Tour de France in 1985.
Ferrand-Prévot held back tears until after an embrace from Tour director Marion Rousse. “I’ve fulfilled a little girl’s dream—it’s a perfect day,” she said after claiming the yellow jersey. “I have to thank the fans and my family who were here supporting me.”
Her solo win on the race’s toughest stage exceeded even France’s highest hopes and dashed the chances of defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and 2023 winner Demi Vollering, who fell behind on the grueling climb to the 2,000m Haute-Savoie summit.
“It was a huge effort—over an hour and a half of climbing—and I had to pace myself,” Ferrand-Prévot said. “But this has been a team effort all week, and this win is as much for them as it is for me.” For her Visma-Lease a Bike team, who struggled against Tadej Pogačar in the men’s Tour, this victory was especially sweet.
With only the final stage from Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel remaining, Ferrand-Prévot leads Australian climber Sarah Gigante by over two and a half minutes and Vollering by three minutes and 18 seconds. Niewiadoma-Phinney trails by another half-minute.
“I still have to finish the job,” Ferrand-Prévot said, “but one year after the Paris Games, winning here on this legendary climb is incredible.”
The race had been unpredictable before the mountain finish, with stop-start racing on the approach to the Madeleine summit, where the battle for the yellow jersey finally ignited. The key moment came 12km from the top when Gigante broke away, with Pauliena Rooijakkers and Ferrand-Prévot chasing.
Gigante, teammate to overnight leader Kim Le Court, has struggled on descents but made up for it with her climbing speed. This time, however, Ferrand-Prévot matched her acceleration, and the two soon worked together.
Ferrand-Prévot also benefited from smart tactics by her team. Marion Bunel joined an early breakaway, waiting ahead to help pace her teammate up the climb. This gave Ferrand-Prévot the support she needed before she dropped her final rival, Niamh Fisher-Black, with 5km to go.
Le Court, Niewiadoma-Phinney, and Vollering had no answer to Ferrand-Prévot’s climbing strength. It was a brutal day for Le Court—her descending skills, which had saved her lead the day before, failed her this time when she took a sharp left turn too fast and crashed into a ditch.
None of her rivals waited as she got back on her bike. If anything, the race only grew more intense as Ferrand-Prévot powered ahead to claim a historic victory.The leading group of favorites pushed even harder, leaving Le Court nearly a minute behind. But as they reached the valley road before the next climb, the Côte de Saint-Georges d’Hurtières, the peloton slowed, allowing Le Court to catch up. She then took the lead at the base of the Madeleine, aiming to set up Gigante for a strong finish.
Her efforts paid off, but neither she nor Gigante had accounted for Ferrand-Prévot’s exceptional climbing strength. “Other teams don’t know what’s coming,” Le Court had said about Gigante’s climbing ability—but they hadn’t anticipated Ferrand-Prévot’s dominance.
The fourth edition of the Tour Femmes has drawn massive crowds and growing TV audiences, building on the success of the first three races. “I really felt something big was happening,” Rousse said. “I had tears in my eyes. It was overwhelming to see how far women’s cycling has come.”
Rousse also shared that Christian Prudhomme, director of the men’s Tour, told her: “I no longer see any difference between the two Tours de France.”
