French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot soloed to victory on Sunday, August 3 in stage nine in the Alps to seal the women’s Tour de France title. Olympic mountain bike champion Ferrand-Prévot of Visma, who joined the road racing scene last year, took the overall title by a 3min 42sec margin over Dutch rider Demi Vollering. Last year’s winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Poland finished third overall at 4min 09sec.
The 33-year-old Ferrand-Prévot said she had achieved “the goal of (her) life as an athlete” after sealing victory in the mountains on the border with Switzerland. She adds to her 15 world titles in several cycling disciplines including mountain biking, cyclo-cross and road racing. She becomes the first French rider to win the modern women’s Tour de France, in its fourth edition. Jeannie Longo won the title 36 years ago in the former race, the Tour de France Feminin.
This season, after seven years devoted primarily to mountain biking, she won the women’s edition of Paris-Roubaix before focusing on preparing for the Tour. “It was so difficult (this stage). I wanted to win here in the yellow jersey. It’s a dream,” she said.
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