“Vollering needed to take that 1:55 before Mont Ventoux” – Pauline Ferrand-Prevot backed to overturn Tour de France Femmes deficit

Demi Vollering took almost two minutes out of Pauline Ferrand-Prevot in the Tour de France Femmes time trial, but Jip van den Bos believes that advantage may be a necessity rather than a luxury before Mont Ventoux.

Ferrand-Prevot finished only 34th over the 21 kilometres from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon, losing 2:13 to stage winner Marlen Reusser and 1:55 to Vollering. The defending champion slipped to 14th overall as Reusser moved into yellow, 14 seconds ahead of Vollering.

On paper, the time trial placed Ferrand-Prevot firmly on the back foot. Her performance in the mountains during the 2025 Tour, however, remains an uncomfortable reference point for every rider now sitting ahead of her.

Ferrand-Prevot eventually won that edition by 3:42 over Vollering after riding clear of the entire field once the race reached its decisive climbing terrain. Van den Bos therefore believes Vollering required a sizeable cushion before facing her again in the high mountains.

“She also knows that this was necessary if she wanted to win the Tour,” Van den Bos said on the In de Waaier podcast. “If Ferrand-Prevot climbs as well as she did last year, Vollering needed to take that one minute and 55 seconds in the time trial ahead of Mont Ventoux.”

Vollering’s ride in Dijon was among the strongest of her career against the clock. She finished third, only 18 seconds behind Reusser, while putting close to a minute into Elisa Longo Borghini and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.

That leaves her in a considerably stronger position than most of the recognised GC contenders, but Ferrand-Prevot remains the rider who inflicted the greatest damage on her in the mountains 12 months ago.

“And was Vollering really so much worse a year ago that she has now been able to close that three-minute gap?” Van den Bos asked. “She wasn’t that bad last year either. She is extremely good now, but I don’t believe the difference between them is three minutes.”

Ferrand-Prevot’s time loss also appeared less extraordinary when set against the rider who won the stage. Reusser is the world time-trial champion, while Ferrand-Prevot had barely raced against the clock since turning her attention towards mountain biking.

“I don’t know whether it is too much,” Van den Bos said. “I also don’t find it particularly surprising. In my mind, she performed roughly as expected. Losing two minutes to Reusser does not strike me as especially strange. You are comparing the best female time trialist in the world with someone who had not ridden a time trial for five years.”

Thijs Zonneveld was less concerned by the final gap than by the position Ferrand-Prevot held throughout the time trial. “When you know that the last time she rode a time trial was five years ago, when she finished fifth at the French championships, and then you see how she is sitting on the bike, like a little old lady,” he laughed. “She was very high at the front, with her helmet sitting slightly crooked on her head. They did their best to limit the damage, but absolutely nothing about her says time-trial specialist.”

Ferrand-Prevot later pointed towards the lingering effects of a previous iliac artery injury, which restricts how aggressively she can hold an aerodynamic position. Zonneveld explained that the problem can also affect her ability to transfer power when riding at maximum intensity.

Her limitations against the clock are unlikely to disappear during the remainder of the Tour. They may not need to.

Mont Ventoux will provide a far more familiar examination, with Ferrand-Prevot now carrying both a substantial deficit and an obvious reason to make the race as difficult as possible. Vollering has gained the time she needed before the mountains; the next stages will show whether she gained enough.