"When I first came here, it didn't feel like a circuit for me" - double MTB World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot reveals

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot took her fifth (2015, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023) world title in the MTB Cross Country on Saturday, with a big lead over her compatriot Leona Lecomte. It wasn't easy, however.

"It was a very tough race," said the Frenchwoman in the flash interview afterwards.

"I didn't have a good start," she continued. "But I wanted to keep my own pace. Full throttle up, but then recover in the descents. That worked perfectly. I am very proud, because I stuck to my own plan. Sometimes after a bad start you start thinking too much, but I just thought: I have one goal today and I have to achieve it."

Ferrand-Prévot was also crowned world champion on the Short Track on Thursday. "This World Championships was certainly a great success. When I came here last Saturday, it didn't feel like a circuit for me. But today I felt okay. Not great, but I was on a mission, went full throttle and wanted to see the end result."