"She wants a team that will give her long-term commitment" - Pauline Ferrand-Prévot puts pressure on Ineos Grenadiers by agreement with SEG Cycling

When it became official that Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will enjoy backing of the SEG Cycling, it's also an alert to hear current employer Ineos Grenadiers that if they want to plant their name within the women cycling world, they better start acting now. What’s clear is that they’re unlikely to have such a great opportunity in the near future.

"They have the ambition and the intention to have one but we’re in February 2024 so to have a team on the road in 2025 means that you need to start working on things very fast. The intention is to continue to build around her but the reality is that there’s no team right now," Martijn Berkhout of SEG Cycling told GCN.

According to Berkhout, Ferrand-Prévot wants stability around her and a project that will support her ambitions. Ineos have everything they need to make that happen. It’s just a choice as to whether they seize this chance or not. "Women’s cycling is getting more professional and if you are as big as Ineos then it’s not difficult to set up a team," Berkhout added.

"They have everything in place but you need a good plan and you need to do some recruitment. We’ll give them the time to do that and how they can facilitate her next step on the road but at the same time, we need to look at her options because I think that every team in the world should be interested in Pauline. She wants a team that will give her long-term commitments so that she can transition back to the road and really build a project."