"To be World Champion" will be Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's goal for the Cyclocross season

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was signed by INEOS Grenadiers and will be the first female rider to represent the British team, in 2023. Her plans are not relatively set yet for the coming season, but for the winter the pieces of the puzzle are fitting in.

"Yes, the main goal of the cyclo-cross season will be to try to be World Champion," Ferrand-Prévot said in an interview with Cyclingnews. "I will start with no points at the beginning of the season, so I will have to be good to try to make points and to be able to be in the second or third row at the World Championships. It will be a challenge, but I like it. It's been a few years without cyclo-cross, so I'm feeling motivated to do this one."

The French rider was World Champion before during the 2014-2015 season. Seven years have passed in the meantime, where she had health issues, slowly left road racing in order to favour mountain biking, and after a few years away from Cyclocross, she will be making a return this winter, carrying a similar plan and ambitions to that of his teammate Tom Pidcock who is the sitting cyclocross World Champion and Olympic XCO champion.

"I really missed cyclo-cross, and I had twice the surgery, and it was impossible to make it. After that, with the Olympics, it was complicated. Also BMC didn't have a cyclo-cross bike," she said, justifying her absence - Ferrand-Prévot hasn't raced pro cyclocross since January 2020. "So, that's why I'm super motivated to race cyclo-cross because I really wanted to do it, but it was impossible. It will be a great winter and preparation for the MTB season," she said.

"We found out I needed surgery for this iliac injury, and after that, I felt I could give my best. I tried to come back, and I wasn't at my best in the past years, but now I found my best shape ever," she argued, a scary statement for her rivals taking into consideration that for the past few months she has taken an eye-watering total of four World titles across MTB and Gravel - the latter just this past weekend.

"It's pretty good to feel that you can win races and feel motivated to go to training. I think about things like what makes me feel good and what makes me happy. In general, I'm feeling very happy," she assured, having very positive feedback on her form and current capacity.

Now she will start a new journey, as INEOS Grenadiers' maiden female rider. "I feel like it has been a super good season for me, and with this announcement, it keeps going in a good way. I'm quite happy and can't wait to start this journey." She has widely complemented the team's attention to detail, and how she believes that can further improve her performance.

"I spend all day doing medical tests, and it's crazy professional, and normally it takes six months to do all the things I've done in two days, so it's saving time. I did my season almost alone this year and will be happy to have more staff, knowledge, and people around me. Everything can be better, for sure," he continued.

The transfer however was in the making for a while, as she revealed. "It all started in May. I really like the project and being part of this team. I went to join the men in training camp and to be part of the family. It's super professional and the only way I can get better and learn more." And her main goals, as was known already, are pretty clear: 

"My main goal will be to try to be Olympic Champion in Paris in 2024 because it is the only title I'm missing, so I really want that one. The next years will be focussed on MTB to try to be Olympic Champion at home," she said.

A return to road racing would perhaps be more difficult as the team would need to sign a flurry of new riders, but it's not disregarded as a project for coming years. "Maybe I will come back to road racing, but not for right now, for sure. When I look at the Tour de France and all these big races, yeah, for sure, I maybe want to be a part of it, but later, and I just want to focus now on my dream. With the Olympics at home, I think I have a good chance," the French legend added.

"We all have dreams and goals, for sure. We all know, in the end, what is good for us or not. So, I'm confident, and I like to know what I want and don't want. I like to decide what I will do, where I want to go, and which way I have to take. For the moment, this is ok," Ferrand-Prévot concluded.