Pauline Ferrand-Prévot admits her obsession with winning the Tour de France again cost her happiness

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has broken her silence after a 2026 season that was far from her expectations. The Olympic MTB champion and winner of the 2025 Tour de France acknowledges that her determination to repeat that victory ended up affecting her personal well-being and her relationship with cycling. After several months away from competition, the Frenchwoman asserts that her priority now is to regain her desire to ride a bike.

Ferrand-Prévot explains how her obsession with the Tour de France took a toll on her

The 2026 season was supposed to confirm Pauline Ferrand-Prévot as one of the great dominators of road cycling. After a spectacular comeback in 2025, when she won Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France, the French rider from Visma-Lease a Bike had set the goal of defending her title in the French round.

However, things did not go as she expected. Although she managed to finish second in the Tour of Flanders and third in Paris-Roubaix, she never found the sensations that had allowed her to dominate the Tour the previous year.

Her performance during the French race was far from expected, and she ended up abandoning before the eighth stage. That withdrawal was also the end of her season, which concluded with just 19 days of competition.

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Now, almost three months later, Ferrand-Prévot has published an extensive reflection on her official Instagram account in which she acknowledges how much that disappointment affected her.

"I was so obsessed with winning the Tour again that I had lost the joy of everyday life. Everything revolved around doing more and being better to become the best," explains the French cyclist.

The situation proved particularly difficult to process because, as she recounts, she had never experienced such a disappointment after preparing so intensely.

"Interestingly, I had gone through difficult moments in my career, where I felt sad and lost, but I had never experienced doing everything so well and ending up with nothing. I think that is one of the reasons why I have felt so bewildered over the past few months."

A long break to recover what she had set aside

After abandoning the Tour, Ferrand-Prévot decided to disconnect from competition and forgo the rest of the season, including the Road World Championship.

During these months, she has barely ridden her bike and has dedicated her time to activities she had sidelined due to the demands of professional sport.

"Since the Tour, I have taken the bike from time to time and enjoyed things I hadn't allowed myself to do throughout the season. I have spent time with my family, enjoyed simple things, and had quality moments away from the bike."

The Frenchwoman acknowledges that she needed a much longer break than usual to regain balance after a season marked by the pressure of results.

"I really needed this endless preseason", she states.

Dylan van Baarle's accident changed her perspective

Another event that has marked Ferrand-Prévot's recent months was the accident suffered by her partner, also professional cyclist Dylan van Baarle, during a training session in the Netherlands in early October.

The Soudal Quick-Step rider suffered a collision with a car that resulted in a wrist fracture and required surgery.

The experience made Ferrand-Prévot reconsider the importance she had placed on sporting results.

"With Dylan's accident three weeks ago during a training session, I realized that life is much more than winning bike races."

"Seeing the person you love most go through such a difficult moment puts things into perspective. And, for once, I was glad to be by his side and do everything I could to support him. Normally, he is the one who always takes care of me."

They both got married at the end of October, an experience that the Frenchwoman has also compared to the great successes of her career.

"I remember how happy I was when I won the Olympics, the Tour, or Roubaix, but marrying Dylan, surrounded by the most important people in my life, was a different level of joy, happiness, and fulfillment."

"Experiencing that happiness without having to sacrifice everything or take things to the extreme was something I had never lived before."

Her goal now is to regain the desire to compete

Ferrand-Prévot now faces a new stage after having closed her season early. The Frenchwoman does not hide that the time away from training has had consequences on her physical condition and that she will need to work to regain her best level.

"I have a long way to go to find a decent level again because I am completely out of shape. But the most important thing now is to regain the joy of being on the bike."

The cyclist, who has a contract with Visma-Lease a Bike until the end of 2028, has not yet detailed her calendar for the next season, although she remains confident in returning to her best version.

"I am sure I will come back stronger," she assures.