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CNN
03-08-2025
- Sport
- CNN
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot wins Tour de France Femmes, becoming first French rider to win event since 1989
FacebookTweetLink Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday, becoming the first French winner of cycling's biggest race since 1989. Not since Bernard Hinault last won the men's Tour de France in 1985 and Jeannie Longo won the women's edition in 1989 has a French cyclist taken home the yellow jersey, a long, long wait for a nation whose summers have been entwined with the race for more than a century. After retiring from a successful mountain bike career in which she became the Olympic champion in Paris, Ferrand-Prévot returned to the road this season with the explicit goal of winning the Tour de France Femmes within three years. In the end, she only needed one. She sealed her win with victory in the final stage of the race, crossing the line resplendent in the yellow jersey and overcome by the emotion of ending France's long wait for a home champion of its iconic race. In the general classification, she finished three minutes and 42 seconds ahead of 2023 winner Demi Vollering in second and four minutes and nine seconds ahead of defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. Ferrand-Prévot rode into the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage, simply riding away from her rivals on the decisive climb of this year's race – the mighty, 18.6 km long Col de la Madeleine on Stage 8 – and crossed the line having gained more than three minutes on Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering. Instead of these former winners, Ferrand-Prévot's closest challenge that day came from Sarah Gigante who attacked early on the Col de la Madeleine. Gigante was caught and passed by the Frenchwoman but limited her losses to finish second, one minute and 45 seconds back. That ride left Ferrand-Prévot with a two-and-a-half minute lead over Gigante in the overall classification with just one stage left to race. Gigante was dropped on the final stage and lost her podium spot. But even with such a big lead, that last stage was not straightforward for Ferrand-Prévot. She fell behind her rivals on the valley roads before the first climb of the day, forcing her team to chase and protect her overall lead. But she recovered to launch a solo attack with six kilometers still to race and cross the line alone.
The Guardian
24-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: stage 18 from Vif to Courchevel Col de la Loze
Update: Date: 2025-07-24T09:30:11.000Z Title: Preamble Content: Today's stage doesn't ask the riders for much, unless you count 5,450m of climbing across three hors catégorie mountains on the 171km route. Perhaps the more significant figure is 14,000: the sum total in metres of vertical ascent in four stages remaining (4,550m tomorrow, 2,990m on Saturday and 1,100m on Sunday, added to 5,450m today). It will be gruelling, brutal, epic, punishing, attritional – take your pick. It might even be dramatic if Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease A Bike can isolate the race leader, Tadej Pogacar, and take a chunk or two out of his commanding 4min 15sec lead in the general classification. The Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine and Col de la Loze must all be tackled by the peloton today: the sheer length and difficulty of the stage promises another rich self-contained narrative within the context of one of the toughest Tours in history. No doubt, Vingegaard's team have created a plan for how they might launch attacks on Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates most effectively. A successful Visma counterattack is not beyond the bounds of possibility but given Pogacar's flying form, it feels more likely the reigning champion will roll with the punches, yet again, and take another significant step towards glory in Paris. This being the Tour de France there will be subplots aplenty. The battle to form the breakaway will be fierce, with the 15 teams that remain empty-handed particularly motivated, while the race for the podium and top 10 in GC is very much on. Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek, who won yesterday to forge a 72-point lead over Pogacar in the green jersey standings, will merely be aiming to make the time cut, hoping a stage win for the Slovenian doesn't reignite the points classification race. It's going to be emotional. Are you ready? Allez! Stage start: 11.20 UK time / 12.20 local time
