Visma-Lease a Bike’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was undoubtedly the star of the show at Rouleur Live on Friday evening, headlining the show and attracting attention from everyone in attendance.
Battling through flight delays and a late arrival, Ferrand-Prévot got immediately stuck in to multiple signings and meet and greets, with queues and crowds amassing around her, before taking to the stage in front of a packed theatre to reflect on a momentous year.
Winner of the Tour de France Femmes and Paris-Roubaix in 2025, in only her first year after returning to the road after dominating mountain biking and becoming Olympic champion at home in Paris in 2024, Ferrand-Prévot ends the year at the top of women’s cycling, and Friday’s adoring reception was only testament to that.
Sitting down to speak on stage, the 33-year-old initially joked about how she was nervous to talk in front of so many people, but as she settled into conversation with Rouleur’s Rachel Jary, it became clear that she isn’t really a person who struggles with the weight of expectation – she lives for it.
“It was so cool to feel this pressure. I love it,” she said of the day of one of her biggest wins – the Olympic mountain bike title last summer. “Just being in your bubble and you know that everyone is waiting for you and you have to make it that day.
After her astounding year on the road, Ferrand-Prévot has had to take an extended break from training this winter to recover from surgery to remove an infection in her ankle that she’s been carrying since Strade Bianche, but she’s already looking ahead to the next places to strive to win and feel that expectation again.
“I also want to try to win Flanders and Liège at the beginning of the season,” she told the Rouleur Live audience. “This year, coming back into road cycling, I was quite up and down I would…
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