French superstar Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will begin her season this Saturday at the Strade Bianche Donne in Italy, and she has made it clear that her goal is to win.
During a press conference on Thursday the reigning Tour de France Femmes champion said she feels stronger than she did at the same time last year. PFP she has a real chance to take victory. In 2025, the multiple world champion was third.
Even better in 2025?
“Compared to last year at the same time, I feel better. I think I can aim for the win,” she said to TV5. “Last year, I still felt like a mountain biker. This year, I’m coming in as a road cyclist; in my mind it’s different.”
Sidenote, to think that she still felt like a MTBer and took huge wins at both the Tour and Paris-Roubaix should definitely put some fear in the rest of the pro peloton.
The 34-year-old rider also underscored the depth of her Visma-Lease a Bike team. She says her squad will be stronger this year and hopes to help her save as much energy as possible early in the race before decisive final section. “The last 40 km are super hard,” she said. Visma also has a card to play with another superstar multi-disciplined rider, Marianne Vos. Victoria’s Sarah Van Dam will also be there with the bees.
2026 goals for PFP
The last time Ferrand-Prévot raced was the road worlds in September, where she finished–for her–a disappointing 16h.
She has several major races she’s aiming for this season, but her big goal is winning the Tour de France again. PFP plans to reach peak form twice before the summer: first for Strade Bianche, and later in April during the Belgian classics, including Ronde van Vlaanderen, Flèche Wallonne, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. She will be skipping Paris-Roubaix, however–a race she won in first year back on the road in 2025.
Van Dam isn’t the only Canuck racing on Saturday. Alison Jackson (St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93) and Magdeleine Vallières Mill ( EF Education–Oatly) are the others in the women’s race. Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team) is the lone Canadian in the men’s event.
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