Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's first gravel race ended with another rainbow jersey, but she couldn't linger long at the finish of the UCI Gravel World Championships in Cittadella on Saturday evening. There are still miles to ride and promises to keep before she brings the curtain down on a season that has yielded four world titles.
"I have to leave for home now because at 8.30 tomorrow morning I'm racing again in the Roc d'Azur," Ferrand-Prévot explained an hour or so after the podium ceremony, as she took her leave from the winner's press conference in the neoclassical Palazzo della Loggia.
These have been weeks of perpetual motion for Ferrand-Prévot, who claimed a pair of rainbow jerseys at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets in August - before adding the marathon title in Haderslev the following month. "Since Les Gets, I've won all my races, so I didn't want to lose today," Ferrand-Prévot said.
Although a newcomer to gravel racing, Ferrand-Prévot's world-title-winning pedigree in road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike made her the obvious favourite to claim the inaugural gold medal in this discipline. She was, inevitably, safely aboard when the decisive move formed with a little under 60km remaining, and she helped to ensure it stayed clear all the way to the finish in the walled town of Cittadella.
"This Worlds is of course totally different because it was my first gravel race ever, so I didn't know what to expect," Ferrand-Prévot said. "But I've been feeling very good, and I just kept training at home even if it's October and the last race of the season. I didn't do specific training for this race, but I kept training quite hard also at home. I'm really happy to have won it."
The day's lone significant hill, Monte Berico, came early in the race, while the winning selection took shape on the race's most technical sectors. The run northwards along the Brenta towards Cittadella was largely flat, and Ferrand-Prévot was content to ride to the finish in the company of Sina Frei (Switzerland), Chiara Teocchi (Italy) and Jade Treffeisen (Germany). The latter two were distanced on the short rise into town, before Ferrand-Prévot dispatched Frei in the sprint to land her tenth elite world title.
"I think I was the favourite because I won all the races I did since Les Gets, so for sure they all knew I was in good shape. But gravel is not MTB and it's not a road race either. You have to be good in both – on the road and in MTB," Ferrand-Prévot said.
"It was a good course, even if it maybe would have been better with more uphill sections at the finish. But it was a really hard race even if it was flat, because you have to keep pushing always, and there were a lot of corners."
The headlines generated by Ferrand-Prévot in recent weeks have not been limited to her ever-expanding wardrobe of rainbow jerseys. With her departure from Team Absolute Absalon BMC seemingly imminent, she has been linked with a move to a new squad sponsored by Ineos, even if she preferred neither to confirm nor deny those reports on Saturday evening.
The precise nature of the deal, and whether Ferrand-Prévot might even return to the road in their colours, is not yet clear. The details of her 2023 plans will remain hazy for at least another few days.
"I can't say anything now, because I'm not allowed to say something," Ferrand-Prévot said. "But I think during the week you will know more about this."
Whatever the sponsor in 2023, and whatever the terrain, the rainbow bands will be a constant.
