"My body is used to performing at altitude" – Can Pauline Ferrand-Prévot add Kigali Worlds win to Tour de France & Paris-Roubaix triumphs in 2025?

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has already conquered two of the sport’s biggest prizes in 2025 – the Tour de France Femmes and Paris-Roubaix Femmes – yet the French star admits she is still hungry for more as she turns her attention to Saturday’s World Championships road race in Kigali.

The 33-year-old national icon tested the Rwandan circuit this week and came away pleasantly surprised. “You can see it’s going to be really tough, but to be honest I was expecting slightly longer climbs,” she said in comments collected by L'Equipe. “Instead, it’s a very punchy, urban circuit with lots of corners. There are two major climbs that will be very hard, but you’ll still need plenty of power. It reminds me a little of the Tour of Flanders. You’ll need energy and strength right to the end.”

With 11 laps making up more than 160 kilometres, attrition is guaranteed. “By the end those two climbs are really going to hurt,” she added. “So I was quite surprised by the circuit, but in a good way, because it’s the kind of racing I enjoy. I think it suits me quite well.”

Having trained at altitude ahead of the Championships, Ferrand-Prevot believes she has the physiological foundations to cope with Kigali’s thin air and humid conditions.

“So far it’s been fairly steady, although I haven’t yet pushed my body to the limit,” she explained. “I’ve done some intensity work and that’s gone pretty well. After my three-week altitude camp I don’t feel affected by the altitude or anything else – I feel in good shape. I think my body is used to performing at altitude. There may be some fluctuations on Saturday, but those are things you can’t control.”

Her emphatic victory at the Tour de France Femmes, coupled with her historic Paris-Roubaix win earlier this season, has ensured Ferrand-Prevot’s year is already one for the ages. But she concedes that moving straight from July’s triumph into a fresh World Championship build-up was a delicate balancing act.

“The transition from the Tour de France was tough because there were so many commitments and things I had to do, which meant recovery was inevitably less than ideal,” she reflected. “I’m not in the same condition I was at the Tour, but then that’s true for everyone. It’s the end of the season, everyone’s a bit tired, everyone’s a bit mentally worn down – we’re all in the same boat. I didn’t have the same optimal preparation as for the Tour, but I still did the work all the way through, and I’m here in good shape. We’ll see if it’s enough.”

Ferrand-Prevot’s 2025 campaign has underlined her versatility, resilience and tactical intelligence across the cobbles and Grand Tour racing. If she can now add a world title on the road in Kigali, it would elevate her season into one of the greatest in modern women’s cycling.

“I’m in good shape,” she summed up. “We’ll see if that’s enough.”