‘It’s not the prettiest, but it’s the fastest for me’: 2025 Tour winner ready to do her maximum to claw back time after big loss.
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(Photo: Gruber Images)
Published August 4, 2026 12:45PM
It was not a shock that defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot lost time to Tour de France Femmes rivals in the stage 4 time-trial between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon. It was her first race against the clock since her comeback to the road scene.
But the deficit was a surprise. The time trial has shaken up the race: the Visma-Lease a Bike superstar has a 2:13 deficit to new yellow jersey Marlen Reusser and 1:56 to close rival Demi Vollering.
Ferrand-Prévot looked ill at ease and slower on the bike than the Swiss stage winner, finishhing 34th on the stage.
“I did my best and I pushed as hard as I could. Now there’s nothing I can do,” she told media at the finish in Dijon.
The defending champion has a lot of work to do and sizable mountain to climb to get back into contention.
Just as well she showed she was the best at doing that last year, at least.
Aero position ‘not the prettiest’, but fastest for ‘PFP’
Ferrand-Prévot was racing her first TT since the 2021 French national championships (Photo: Gruber Images)
As for her elevated position on the bike, which was noticeably higher than rivals such as Reusser and Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), Ferrand-Prévot explained she has done tests on the track and in the wind tunnel. It also took into account changes to her body, given two operations on the iliac artery in her groin.
“As I am petite, it’s also better to be higher. It was not the prettiest position and not the fastest, but it was the fastest for me,” she said post-race.
Ferrand-Prévot was already 1 minute 21 seconds down on the climb of Lacets de Marsannay around the day’s halfway mark.
“With the heat and all, it’s true that I didn’t have the best sensations, but I think it was the same for everyone,” she said.
“I can’t say if I felt particularly good or bad. I just tried to go all out and to focus on myself, to push as hard as possible and keep an aero position.”
If Ferrand-Prévot was disappointed, she hid it well as she warmed down outside the Visma-Lease a Bike campervan, 500 meters from the finish in Dijon. After speaking to journalists, she got down to the task of signing autographs for a supportive crowd of over a hundred.
“PFP”-mania is still alive and well in France. Fans shouted “Bravo Pauline” and clapped when she first emerged.
Given the TT is not her strong suit, Ferrand-Prévot added she was “happy this day is over.”
Rather the chaser than the one being chased
Now she and the Visma-Lease a Bike management know what they need to do: close the gap and attack.
“It also depends on the others, how they are, it depends on a lot of things,” the Frenchwoman said of her rivals. “But in any case, I’ll give my best to claw back his two-minute gap.”
“I like this scenario, of having to go chasing time than being the favorite. It will be a nice challenge,” she added.
A wider question is whether we are seeing the best version of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot this summer. She briefly lost the wheel of several favorites under attacks from puncheur Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) before regaining contact in the finale of stage 3 Monday.
She expects more bids to drop her on challenging coming stages.
“Yesterday was super punchy, it’s true that at the end, when they went for it, I was hurting until that bonus sprint. I knew that they’d be giving me no gifts on the short hills. I know that will also be the case tomorrow and the day after [stage 6].”
Ventoux time differences will be bigger
Visma-Lease a Bike team manager Rutger Tijssen said that they expected a gap and that they “know what to do now: close it.”
With the finish on Mont Ventoux looming on stage 7 Friday, he expects bigger gaps than the 2:13 Ferrand-Prevot lost to Reusser.
“For sure, there will be more differences up there. It’s a brutal climb, long and steep,” he said. “There will be more differences made than this one and a half, two minutes, that’s for sure.”
The TT has transformed the complexion of the Tour de France Femmes GC, but there will be more differences to come. It’s crystal clear: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has to attack to come from behind and defend her title.
