Ferrand-Prévot wins French road championships

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After a break due to a back injury, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Rabo Liv bounced back as she claimed another French title in Chantonnay, Vendée, ahead of arch-rival Audrey Cordon from Wiggle-Honda who took the blue, white and red jersey in the time trial on Thursday.

Ferrand-Prévot enjoyed crossing the line solo with the rainbow jersey on her shoulders, taking her first win since she became the world champion in Ponferrada, Spain, in September last year.

“I’m extremely happy”, she said. “To win with this jersey in front of the French public, it’s magic. I’d been a long time alone in the lead but I’ve managed to keep riding flat out till the end. I told myself that I’d try to accelerate on the fourth lap and that’s what I did. I raised the speed at the top of a hill.”

Her acceleration created a front group of three riders with Amélie Rivat (Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope 86) and Fanny Leleu (Normandy).

“We rode well together until Fanny dropped back,” Ferrand-Prévot explained. “Then I tried to motivate Amélie to take turns. I knew Audrey wasn’t far behind. I wanted to avoid her return.”

With 23km to go, the world champion forged ahead solo.

“Unfortunately I haven’t had the occasion of a direct fight with her,” Cordon lamented. “I’m disappointed that it didn’t happen. It would have been a nice duel. It’s the second French championship in a row that I missed her attack. When she rode away on the hill, I got boxed in. Then it was too late to catch her. I should know by now that when Pauline has an advantage of two metres, it’s game over.”

“My calf was cramping towards the end”, Ferrand-Prévot said, “but that’s because of the heat. I’m not suffering from my injury anymore. I can pedal normally now. Only near the finish, I remembered my problems. I’ve lost a bit of power on the flat but in the climbs, I was going well.”

“This is a special day for me”, she continued. “It’s a special feeling to win with the rainbow jersey for the first time and it’s my boyfriend’s birthday today. I wanted to win for him.”

“I’ve made my dream come true with the time trial title,” echoed Cordon. “With those two medals, my season is already successful. Now I’ll work for France to get a second straight rainbow jersey in September.”

“The spirit of the world championship has remained in the national,” confirmed Rivat who was also part of the winning team at the service of Ferrand-Prévot last year.

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