Olympic MTB champion Ferrand-Prevot: Now she wants to win the Tour de France

Farewell mountain biking - the Tour de France as an attractive destination

Now it's time to stop mountain biking - at least at the highest level. "It's time for new goals," the 32-year-old Olympic champion told the French sports website lequipe.fr. She had previously signed a contract with the Dutch racing team Visma | Lease a Bike for the next three years - as a road pro from 2025. The goal: overall victory in the Tour de France. "I will try to win the Tour in these coming seasons," she explained at lequipe.fr the change of discipline. She last took a break from road cycling after leaving the German team Canyon//SRAM at the end of 2020. "Women's cycling (on the road) has come a long way since I left it," she said on the occasion of the new change of discipline. The restart of the women's Tour de France, which became a reality in 2022, is a major new attraction and motivation for many female cyclists. When the Frenchwoman last took part in the women's race organised by Tour organiser A.S.O. in 2018, it was still a one-day race under the name La Course by Le Tour.

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New leadership role at Visma | Lease a Bike

"We will give her time to become a road cyclist again," said her future team manager Rutger Tijssen. Marianne Vos is the best-known rider on the team so far. The 37-year-old Dutchwoman won silver on the road in Paris after her Olympic victory in London 2012. Vos and Ferrand-Prevot were team-mates at Rabobank from 2012 to 2016. Unlike the men's team, where Jonas Vingegaard recently won the world's most important stage race twice, Visma | Lease a Bike has so far lacked a contender for victory in the women's Tour. "We want her to be the leader in our team for the big stage races," added Tijssen.

All titles on the mountain bike

Most recently, Ferrand-Prevot wore the jersey of the British racing team Ineos Grenadiers for two years, which does not have a women's team. Ferrand-Prevot wants to end her career as a professional mountain biker after the upcoming World Championships in Andorra. On the bike, she has won five world titles in cross-country and two world titles in short track. She was also European champion twice. She was still missing an Olympic victory before the Paris Games.

First female world champion in three disciplines

Ferrand-Prevot had already been the most versatile female cyclist for many years in the past: The first in cycling history to win the three titles of world champion in cyclocross, road racing and mountain biking. No man has ever achieved this feat. In the meantime, the Frenchwoman from Champagne had lost interest in road cycling and had repeated form and motivation problems.

Reunion with life partner at new team

It is not known what role her current partner, 2021 runner-up and Roubaix winner Dylan van Baarle, who rides for the Visma | Lease a Bike men's team, played in the switch. However, Ferrand-Prevot emphasised on the short message service X after her Olympic victory, what role the Dutchman of the same age played in providing mental support and training on the way to her triumph in Paris.