OFFICIAL: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot out of the Tour de France Femmes after Mont Ventoux letdown
CyclingSaturday, 08 August 2026 at 13:40
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot entered the Tour de France Femmes as one of the main favourites and the defending champion. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider has had a disappointing race and was far from the level she had shown last year, and has now abandoned the race.
A disappointing Tour de France Femmes for Visma
Ferrand-Prévot did not have the spring that she had hoped for, but nevertheless it included podium results at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix Femmes. But entering the Tour, she hadn't had confirmation that she had the climbing legs in competition.
At the beginning of the Tour, there weren't evident signs that she would be struggling. But on stage 4, the individual time trial exposed two weaknesses at once: Her aerodynamical position, but also her apparent struggle to match the competition, as the loss to Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering over 21 kilometers was of a whole 2 minutes.
The next day, the Frenchwoman lost more time, getting dropped with ease under Vollering's attacks into Belleville-en-Beaujolais. She headed into Mont Ventoux in 15th place in the overall classification, despite arguing that in her shorter efforts, she was at the very best of her abilities:
"My level is quite good, the others are just better. You have to be honest and realistic about tha," she said after stage 6. "My level is amazing, I did my best power output over ten minutes yesterday, but the level around me has just grown a lot".
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot climbing Mont Ventoux
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Visma reveal Ferrand-Prévot's departure
On Mont Ventoux there were hopes that Ferrand-Prévot would handle the terrain better, lacking the explosivity but taking on a climb where that mattered little. But as soon as the final 15-kilometer stretch up the Géant de Provence began, she was dropped from the GC group. The performance at the end provided little reason to continue aiming for a GC result.
This morning, Ferrand-Prévot will not be at the start of the Tour's eighth stage, as confirmed by a statement from Team Visma | Lease a Bike: "Unfortunately, Pauline was not feeling well this morning. In consultation with the medical staff, it has been decided that she will not start today. We wish Pauline a speedy recovery!"
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- It is very easy to say whether you can match the power in training or not, If you cannot you can only win by the opponents mistake or tactic or misfortune. Visma already know the level of both, the numbers etc. Since 2024 Pogi has gone up a level while Jonas is stuck. Jonas is not retiring because it is hard to win but he wants to spend more time with family and crashes are scary to anybodyabstractengineer08-08-2026
- I believe Jonas really thought he could win this Tour. He came in with great form but Pog just blew him away. I don't think he'll make the sacrifices required to race the Tour again knowing he'll be riding for 2nd place at best. He's had a great career and i don't think he's interested in riding other races he's always won. The Tour was his motivation to sacrifice so much. Now that's not a realistic goal, he'll retire this year. All the best to him.Santiago08-08-2026
- will he retire or just avoid Tadej? race whatever he doesn't.mij08-08-2026
- did it really take several weeks for someone to voice these thoughts publicly?Ketterechts08-08-2026
- Certainly one of the best. Hope denialists found something better to watchMistermaumau08-08-2026
- My prediction.. Pog will win 7 Tours, maybe 8 with the help of IDT. Then he'll work for IDT to win.Santiago08-08-2026
- Bravo RidesHills for your comment That is precisely why Jonas shoud retire. He has nothing to prove but has something to lose. He can't prove he can beat Pogi, but may start losing to Seixas, Del Toro or even Remco. Does he really need this sh**... I don't think so. PS: Jonas can be proud of his cycling career, it was exceptional, winning 4 GT (2X TdF) and most of the prestigious one week stage races.PogiSloFans08-08-2026
- Yeah, his name is Mou, I think. He's a fraud and has been banned over multiple sites. He's on X now, but the disgusting things he writes about Tadej and Urška doesn't make him a Pogi fan... He's disgusting.PogiSloFans08-08-2026
- Awsome! The best women race I've ever watched!averagecyclist08-08-2026
- It's so nice for Matteo Trentin to say these things about Pogačar, although they are not teammates anymore. Most cyclists and other people that know Tadej personally, say he's a nice and honest guy, he just doesn't know how to be a fake. It's something Pogi haters just don't understand.PogiSloFans08-08-2026
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