Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will not start Gravel European Championships after positive covid test

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was one of the eye-catchers on the start list of the European Gravel Championships on Sunday, but the Frenchwoman will not start in Oud-Heverlee. The reigning gravel world champion has tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Nothing has really gone well since the World Cup in Les Gets," Ferrand-Prévot writes on her Instagram page. "I tried to push myself further for a good result, but last week during the Test Event for the Olympic Games in Paris I felt tired again and had no energy."

That feeling continued this week. "On Wednesday I felt sick and now it turns out that I have been hit by the coronavirus again. The plan was to participate in the European Gravel Championships, but that is not going to happen," she concluded.

Ferrand-Prévot hopes to defend her world title on gravel a week later, on Saturday, October 7, in Veneto, Italy.