"I lost weight purely for this race" - Ferrand-Prévot addresses Tour victory preparation amid cycling’s weight debate

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has opened up for the first time since her stunning 2025 Tour de France Femmes triumph, a victory few believed possible when she returned to road racing earlier this year. Already the winner of Paris–Roubaix in the spring, she capped her season with a dominant display in France, winning the final two stages to secure the yellow jersey. Her Tour title now sits alongside Olympic gold and world championships in four different disciplines, cementing her place among cycling’s all-time greats. Yet, in the aftermath of her win, much of the conversation has turned to the weight loss she undertook in preparation for the race.

"I lost weight purely for this race. I did it with a lot of help from the team," Ferrand-Prévot told Sporza, explaining that she had access to a nutritionist, chef, and nutrition coach so that “everything could be analysed.” She insisted her approach was safe and calculated: "My weight loss was somewhat controlled and intelligent. It wasn't an illness. There was a lot of fuss about it, but I don't take that personally."

For her, it was simply part of preparing for the biggest race of the year. "We're professional athletes. I simply prepared as best I could for the biggest race in the world. The last days of the Tour were very tough, so watts per kilogram were very important. It's just a process." She added that she had to find a careful balance: "I had to find a balance between losing weight and maintaining my strength. But I achieved my goal and now I'm moving on with my normal life."

Ferrand-Prévot also pushed back against the idea she had restricted herself excessively.

"But I didn't before the Tour either. Not because I was afraid, but because I didn't think about it. I didn't do anything crazy. I didn't want to have stomach problems either; I just ate what I wanted." Since the Tour, she has relaxed her diet: "I think I've gained a bit of weight since then, because I didn't really pay attention to my diet. I had pizza once. But I eat all sorts of things and I enjoy it. That's the most important thing."

She emphasized that the process was a team effort. "She works with everything we have at our disposal," said head coach Jacco Verhaeren. "She's being guided very professionally. As an older, professional athlete, she has experience in optimally preparing for a top performance. We had to find a middle ground there, and we did."

Verhaeren stressed that the weight management program was well-managed: "Everything is monitored, everything is considered, and everything is transparent. So we had no concerns. Weight is just one aspect; it's also about fitness, strength, and teamwork."

He acknowledged that weight is an ongoing conversation in elite sport, "We all have weight issues in sports, but with this team, we're paying 100% attention to it. It wasn't too much or too little; it was just right."

The debate has spread beyond Ferrand-Prévot’s camp. Tour runner-up Demi Vollering reflected on her own experiences, saying, "Now that I’ve had a few days to put things into perspective, here’s my personal opinion on the ‘weight topic’. After the Tour, around 80% of the questions I received in the final press conference were about my weight. Whether I planned to lose more. Whether that would be the way to win the Tour de France again. Whether that was the key to performance in the future."

Vollering stressed her approach to health over numbers, "I get it, this is sport. People are enthusiastic and have opinions. But let me be clear: I make, and will continue to make, every decision in my career by putting my health first. Always. The truth is: I’m not built to be the lightest rider in the peloton. And I don’t want to force my body to become something it’s not."

Former Vuelta champion Chris Horner, meanwhile, took a more performance-driven view. “You’re a professional cyclist. Weight is always going to be a factor,” he said. “If you’re not going to have watts per kilo better than the rider next to you, then you better have tactics better than the rider next to you. Otherwise, you have zero chance of winning.”