"With the radios, it would have been clearly different" - Pauline Ferrand-Prevot criticizes World Championships rule for French failure

France had so many quality riders at the start of the women's elite road race this Saturday at the Kigali World Championships. At the finish line, not a single one was in the Top10, but they were not the only case as the Netherlands and Italy also failed in their goal of reaching the medals despite having very strong lineups at the start with multiple options. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Juliette Labous explained what went wrong.

"I wouldn't say it was a slaying, but it's true that we made quite a mark. I was waiting for Demi [Vollering] to attack, she was waiting for me to attack, and then, it's true that we let a shot get away," Ferrand-Prévot told Eurosport after the race. "This is often the case in the world championships, or in championships in general".

Evita Muzic was part of the winning attack but just like the Netherlands' Riejanne Markus and Italy's Barbara Malcotti did not have the legs to follow the riders that would go on to take the day's medals. This would likely not be a big issue, if only the 'peloton' hadn't let the gap grow to almost 2 minutes with around 30 kilometers to go, making it very difficult to close.

France's riders burnt themselves to close down as much of the gap as possible for the Tour de France Femmes winner who did then show strong legs on the final lap, but the sheer amount of time in a standstill throughout the final hour of racing made it impossible for the group to catch up regardless of their quality.

"it's true that it's sometimes more of a tactical race than a truly physical one. That said, I wasn't the strongest today, honestly. On the cobblestones, I really lacked power. While I felt like I was going well on the steep section and that I was able to keep up with the best, on the cobblestones, it was harder for me. I had trouble really finding my pedaling on the cobblestones":

Ferrand-Prévot was 16th, whilst Muzic cracked and Labous who worked for Ferrand-Prévot rode to 13th. It was a failed day for what was perhaps the strongest of teams at the start. However the veteran explains the unusual tactics, like the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, were also partly due to the lack of radios - something that only happens in events of national teams, and differ significantly from a regular road race.

"With the radios, it would have been clearly different, yes, because it's true that we had the gaps, but it's hard to see on the board. It's a bit old school, though. It's true that we had trouble seeing the gaps. Making decisions ourselves is always hard," she admits. "Whereas if the sporting director tells us what to do, it's always a little easier. But it's the same for everyone".

"Once again, that's also the beauty of a championship: it can be quite random sometimes, but we still have a great winner and a great podium [...] "I'm not disappointed for myself, I'm more disappointed for the team that trusted me today. But we still have a chance next week with the European Championships. I'm really keen to work for the team and try to give something back".

Labous sacrificed her chances for a top result after France was caught in a terrible situation where a victory seemed unlikely for both Ferrand-Prévot and Muzic, and explained what went wrong in the key moments of the race.

"We had Muzic in front, but she wasn't doing great, otherwise it was a good situation. We made the mistake of leaving too big a gap, there were some communication problems between us and some girls' judgments of feeling," she explained.