Let’s just be frank: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is ridiculous. You already know this, of course: a world champion on the road, in cyclocross, mountain bike and gravel, she is one of the greatest female cyclists to ever have ridden a bike. Scrap that, she’s one of the greatest and most versatile female athletes ever, period. Nothing she does or achieves should surprise us – put her on a bicycle, it doesn’t matter what type, and she’ll dance on the pedals, blast her rivals away, and create more history. But this, winning Paris-Roubaix on debut when she wasn’t even meant to ride it, when she’s only returned to the road after a seven year hiatus to win the Tour de France Femmes, not the flattest and most uncomfortable race of all, and when she’s been beset by infection and illness in the days and weeks before, is just ludicrous. Insane. Yes she’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, winner of pretty much everything, but still: Tour de France contenders aren't built to win the Hell of the North – or at least that's what we thought.
“It was not on my calendar, it was a last moment decision – I was supposed to be at altitude right now for three weeks,” the Visma-Lease a BIke rider said after her momentous 58 second solo victory, courtesy of an attack from the leading group 25km from the end. “After Strade Bianche [where she finished third] and Milan-Sanremo [12th] I discussed it with my coach and said I would like to ride the Tour of Flanders [2nd]. One week later I asked if I could do Roubaix as well and they said I could.”
The Frenchwoman’s preparation, though, wasn’t ideal: a crash at Strade when in the leading group led to an infection in her ankle. “I was on antibiotics and I only stopped taking them on Wednesday,” she said. “But then I got sick on Thursday and I skipped training on Friday because I wasn’t feeling really good. This morning I didn’t have a fever anymore, so we said we would try to mostly help Marianne [Vos]. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure about my condition this morning."
She didn’t have designs on winning for herself; she was here to train, apparently. “Even if the Tour de France is my main goal, I said Flanders and Roubaix could be good races as training to fight for positions. This race is the best training for that.” Two things can be true: she was here to get some practice in, but she was also definitely here to win. Don’t believe everything she says.
“The goal was to make the sprinters tired and to bring Marianne [to the line] as fresh as possible to be able to sprint for the win,” she continued. That’s not what happened, though. Her form, her legs, her unending greatness had beaten the midweek setbacks. This was PFP time.
“Marianne said to me that I could attack on the cobbles but I said that’s when everyone is going full gas, so maybe it’s smart to wait a little and to attack on the tarmac. And that’s what I did.” You don’t win Olympic gold and 15 – fifteen – world titles across four different disciplines without a bit of canny thinking. “It wasn’t super organised behind so I got a gap and I tried to go full gas to make them work. Last weekend [at Flanders] I was not confident enough to attack, but today I said I needed to try something. I wasn’t really thinking I could win the race – I just wanted to make SD Worx work, but in the end I won. It’s super cool. I am super happy.”
Her last victory on the road was 10 years ago, back when there was no Tour de France Femmes or Paris-Roubaix, no minimum salary for women, French presidents didn't tweet their congratulations, and barely any live TV coverage of women’s racing. Her teammate Imogen Wolff was nine-years-old. “Pauline and Marianne are legends – they made the sport and moulded it into what it is today,” the young Briton said afterwards. 2015 was a different era, but some things remain unchanged: Ferrand-Prévot was winning back then as an all-conquering 23-year-old, and now she’s winning as an irrepressible 33-year-old. “It’s a completely different sport,” she said. “I have to get used to everything again and it was quite a lot of work during the winter but now I feel quite comfortable in the bunch. Every weekend is a step higher – it’s a cool process, I have to say.”
A successful one, too. “It’s my first year back on the road and I am discovering what I can do.” Everything, absolutely everything, that’s what she can do. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot can thread her way through a dense forest on knobbly, wide tyres; she can zip up mountains and fly down the other side of them; and now she can tame protruding cobbles with the air and grace of someone far stockier. She’s absurd. Nothing is too much for her. “I really want to win the Tour de France now – that’s my next big career goal.” The odds of achieving that coveted victory are shortening with each passing race.
