Six stages into the Tour de France Femmes, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot - who dominated the race in 2025 to win by well over three minutes - is staring down a five-minute deficit to race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar). But the Frenchwoman is not complaining of bad form. Quite the opposite; she revealed she hit a personal best power output on stage 5, just as she was being put to the sword.
It was expected that the multi-discipline star might lose some time in the stage 4 individual time trial, but not the 2:13 she eventually gave up to Reusser. And on Wednesday's hot and hilly stage to Beaujolais, it was even worse.
After losing contact with Reusser, Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), Ferrand-Prévot lost another 2:35 and dropped to 15th place in the Tour de France Femmes GC standings and admitted her hopes of a repeat victory were all but over.
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Ferrand-Prévot managed to stay with the yellow jersey contenders on another punchy day on stage 6, after which she expanded on her belief that her time losses weren't so much down to her own struggles as the rising level of her rivals.
"You know, I think my level is quite good. It's just that the others are better, and I have to be realistic and honest," she said.
"I think my level is great - yesterday I did my best 10-minute power in the last climb, so I think I'm not too bad, but it's just that the level is much higher, you know?
"It's really nice to see that my teammates are also developing, and they want to learn, and this is nice."
Asked about the difference in the general level of the peloton in the 12 months since her commanding victory, she added: "So many riders now are able to ride at a high level. It's crazy. And in one year, the difference is huge.
"It's really nice to see. But I think I have to progress and to keep working harder. But, no, it's really nice to see that women's cycling is developing so much, and also the spectators on the road and everything, it's great to see."
Ventoux
With two hilly transition stages done, the Tour de France Femmes now heads into Ferrand-Prévot's favoured terrain, with the long, gruelling climb of Mont Ventoux on Friday followed by Sunday's climbing-heavy final stage in Nice.
Ferrand-Prévot has not been under any illusions that the defence of her yellow jersey is effectively over, but with stage wins and a push into the top 10 on GC still achievable, she is far from laying down arms.
"It's also still quite a long way to go, and we know that every day will be hard: today, tomorrow, also the last stage. So, I don't want to give up, you know?" she said.
"I didn't train that hard to now give up ... I want to give my best until the end, and I will fight until the end."
Last year, the French rider made her Tour de France winning move on the Col de la Madeleine on stage 8 and then sealed her overall victory with a second mountain stage win at Châtel. The Mont Ventoux could be where Ferrand-Prévot makes her mark on this year's Tour.
"It's quite an iconic climb - I cannot wait to arrive at the bottom and to just do like a one-hour full gas," Ferrand-Prévot said. "And as you can see, the French public is quite crazy, so I think they will also be on fire. And I would really love to win there and to just put it on my palmarès."
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