"She can win the Tour de France Femmes" - Big expectations for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot after full-time switch to road racing is confirmed

The greatest of all time in women's mountain bike, the legendary Pauline Ferrand-Prévot had just one goal left to achieve in the sport and last weekend the Frenchwoman finally succeeded, taking the Olympic gold medal in front of her adoring compatriots in Paris. 

Afterwards, the 32-year-old, who claimed the road race World Championship title back in 2014 in Ponferrada, confirmed her intentions to give up mountain bike and concentrate full time on a career on the road. Front and centre of her medium to long term goals, the Maillot Jaune at the Tour de France Femmes. 

"She can win the Tour de France Femmes," predicts the Grand Tour's race director and former French national champion in her own right, Marion Rousse in conversation with Le Parisien. "She has the advantage of having previously come from the road, it's not as if she came from mountain biking or cyclocross. She's got the body. I saw that her mountain bike coach had compared her data with what's done on the road, and it seems that she's quite competitive. With her mentality and everything she's already achieved, we can only believe in her success."

"My future plans for road cycling will be official in the second week of August. I have a nice project that will help me focus on the Tour de France [Femmes] in the coming years. I have now won Olympic gold, but I still have some goals," Ferrand-Prevot herself said after winning her mountain bike gold, with the former INEOS Grenadiers rider rumoured to be joining partner Dylan van Baarle in the colours of Team Visma | Lease a Bike for 2025 and beyond as she focuses on her road racing career.

The last time the Frenchwoman competed on the road was back in 2021 at the French National Championships, finishing 5th in the time-trial and 12th in the road race. As mentioned though, as a former world champion and a winner of La Fleche Wallonne Feminine in 2014, Ferrand-Prevot has proven her pedigree in the past.