Pauline Ferrand-Prévot: The Hyper-Focused Strategy to Defend the Tour de France Femmes Title

Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot enters the Tour de France Femmes with a highly selective racing calendar designed to peak for the event, according to reporting from Cyclingnews.

Ferrand-Prévot’s Targeted Preparation Strategy

Unlike rivals Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser, who have maintained active schedules with wins at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de Suisse respectively, Ferrand-Prévot has avoided a packed calendar. The 34-year-old athlete stated during an online media conference three days before the race that her primary goal from the start was to be 100% for the Tour de France.

Ferrand-Prévot told reporters that she does not want to perform all season long and instead chooses to commit to one big goal. She noted that her age has influenced this shift, stating that she no longer possesses the same motivation to race every weekend that she had when she was younger.

This focused approach follows a career of multi-disciplinary success, including a period where she held world titles in road, cyclo-cross, and cross-country mountain biking simultaneously. Her return to road racing culminated in a 2025 Tour de France victory and a gold medal in mountain biking at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Addressing the Time Trial Deficit

The 2026 route introduces a 21km time trial on stage 4, a discipline where Ferrand-Prévot has lacked recent experience. According to Visma-Lease a Bike women’s team manager Rutger Tijssen, the team has spent significant time on time trial bikes, training at least two to three times a week since November.

Ferrand-Prévot described her starting point in time trial preparation as starting from minus ten, but she told reporters she has taken the challenge seriously and completed her homework through aerodynamic testing and simulations.

Tijssen stated that the training focus remained on maintaining her strengths in long climbing and explosive efforts while making the uncomfortable aspects of the time trial more manageable.

Analysis of the Mont Ventoux Queen Stage

The race’s queen stage will conclude on Mont Ventoux, featuring a 15.7km climb with an average gradient of 8.8%. Ferrand-Prévot has repeatedly tackled this climb during her preparation to familiarize herself with the terrain.

While the gradient is similar to the Col de la Madeleine, where she secured the overall lead last year, Ferrand-Prévot noted that wind will have a greater impact on Ventoux. She also highlighted the section after Chalet Reynard, which requires significant power due to its flatter nature, suggesting that team tactics may play a larger role this year than they did on the Madeleine.

Team Dynamics and Support

Marianne Vos, a teammate at Visma-Lease a Bike, described Ferrand-Prévot as a determined leader who knows exactly what she needs to achieve her goals. Vos stated during a pre-race media conference that this determination has been a constant throughout Ferrand-Prévot’s career, dating back to their time together at Rabobank-Liv.

Tijssen indicated that the team’s overriding target is to capture the yellow jersey on the final day. He asserted that nothing will hold Ferrand-Prévot back from reaching her peak moment, regardless of the changes in the course layout compared to previous years.

The race is scheduled to begin in Lausanne, Switzerland. Ferrand-Prévot expressed a sense of relaxation and confidence in her current state of preparation heading into the start on Saturday.