Paris-Roubaix Femmes: Massive solo attack lands Pauline Ferrand-Prévot stunning victory in debut at home race

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the first Frenchwoman to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes. In her debut at the cobblestone race, she attacked from a group of favourites with 25km to go and bridged to Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek) before dropping the Dane on the Camphin-en-Pévèle pavé sector. 

With her teammate Marianne Vos policing the chase group, Ferrand-Prévot soloed to the velodrome where she could take in the cheers of the crowd before raising her hands on the line.

In the group behind, Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) snuck away on the final kilometre to take the runner-up spot while Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) outsprinted Vos for third place.

“I had a crash at the sector before Mons-en-Pévèle, so I had to chase, but Marianne [Vos] was at the front. And when we came back, I just tried to attack. After I had a gap, I just tried to go full gas until the end,” Ferrand-Prévot said after the race.

Having battled with illness in the run-up to the race, she wasn’t certain to start on the morning of the race.

“I wasn’t sure this morning if I should participate. We said, OK, we just go, and worst-case scenario, I will do my best for Marianne. 

“Yeah, winning ill. It's just amazing. My boyfriend [Dylan van Baarle] won three years ago, now I won, so we will have two stones at home, that’s quite cool,” Ferrand-Prévot continued.

How it unfolded

Quinty Ton (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Aurela Nerlo (Winspace Orange Seal) got away on the opening loop south of Denain, and they were 2:45 ahead going into the first pavé sector, sector 17 (counting down towards the finish), 82.5km from the finish.

This gap was quickly reduced as Lidl-Trek put the pressure on among a number of mechanicals and crashes. Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) attacked from the peloton coming out of sector 16 with 72.6km to go.

The former World ITT champion had bridged to the front just before sector 13 where her pace was too much for Nerlo who had to drop back. Ton held on for a while longer but was also dropped a few kilometres later, leaving Van Dijk alone at the front with what remained of the peloton 15-20 seconds behind.

Ferrand-Prévot crashed in the corner into the four-star sector 12, Auchy-les-Orchies à Bersée, taking down four other riders and splitting the group. SD Worx-Protime teammates Lotte Kopecky and Wiebes took this opportunity and forged ahead alone, closing the gap to Van Dijk. Vos bridged soon after to make it a front group of four.

Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Jelena Erić (Movistar), Romy Kasper (Human Powered Health) and Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) came back to the front at the 50km mark. Erić immediately went on the attack but was shut down by Kopecky.

Kasper and Van Dijk were dropped on the Mons-en-Pévèle sector while Ferrand-Prévot was chasing in a group about 30 seconds down. Kopecky then attacked on the small rise after the end of the pavé, and only Vos could hold her wheel.

Dygert chased hard to close the gap, leaving six riders at the front, but the other four didn’t want to work with Kopecky and Wiebes. Kopecky attacked again on sector 9, 39km from the finish, and again only Vos could stay with her.Then things came back together on the asphalt, and eventually Ferrand-Prévot’s chase group reached the front to make it a group of more than 20 riders.

After short-lived attacks by Erić, Borghesi, Jackson and Van Dijk, Norsgaard made her move with 32.4km to go and quickly gained a 36-second advantage. With Kopecky leading the chase, this was reduced to 22 seconds on sector 7, and Ferrand-Prévot then went off on a solo chase, reaching Norsgaard with 23km to go.

Ferrand-Prévot left Norsgaard behind on sector 5, Camphin-en-Pévèle, and increased her gap to 45 seconds at the start of the final five-star sector 4, Carrefour de l’Arbre. Exiting the sector, she was 58 seconds ahead as Vos was shadowing moves in the group behind and disrupting the chase.

Norsgaard was still trying to hold on for second place but was caught on sector 2 – Ferrand-Prévot’s victory was certain by that point. 

In the fight for second place, an attack by Élise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) just inside the 5km mark led to a group of four that also included Vos, Borghesi, and Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Uno-X Mobility).

Chabbey’s acceleration finally dropped Kopecky, but Wiebes and Jackson came back. Borghesi then launched an attack and stayed away, taking second place behind Ferrand-Prévot while Wiebes narrowly beat Vos in the sprint for third place.

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