Pauline Ferrand-Prévot considers the Tour already lost and announces a change in strategy

The Frenchwoman, winner of the Tour in 2025, acknowledges after two stages in which she has lost too much time that she can no longer fight for the overall and admits that Visma | Lease a Bike will have to change strategy for the rest of the race.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot gives up on the Tour de France Femmes: "I have to be honest, I think it's over"

The fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes has dealt a heavy blow to Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. The reigning champion lost more than two and a half minutes to her main rivals and, after crossing the finish line, acknowledged in statements to WielerFlits that her chances of defending the title have practically disappeared. The French rider is now five minutes behind the yellow jersey of Marlen Reusser and believes it is time to rethink the team's objectives.

"Is the Tour lost? I have to be honest: yes," Ferrand-Prévot stated. "I hadn't really seen the difference yet, but I think it's over. Now we need to refocus, maybe change the plan. We need to make a new plan."

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The leader of Visma Lease a Bike conceded 2:35 to the group formed by Marlen Reusser, Demi Vollering, and Kasia Niewiadoma, a difference that takes her out of the fight for the general classification with four stages still remaining in the competition.

Despite the significant time lost, the Frenchwoman explained that during the last kilometers she was not focused on the time references and simply tried to limit her losses.

"I didn't really look at the difference. I just wanted to fight until the end and then we would see the result. I couldn't do anything else but keep pushing the pedals as hard as possible."

"They were simply stronger"

Ferrand-Prévot also stated that her feelings on the bike were good and that she does not consider she had a bad day, but rather that her rivals were above her level.

"I felt good. Until the penultimate climb, I felt strong and on the next one, I also had good feelings, but I simply wasn't strong enough to follow them. I can't be disappointed because I didn't feel bad and my power data was also good. They were simply stronger today."

New role within Visma

With the overall practically ruled out, the Frenchwoman left the door open to completely change roles for the remainder of the Tour. When asked about the possibility of working for her teammate Femke de Vries, who is now better positioned in the classification, or seeking a stage win, Ferrand-Prévot made it clear that the priority will be the team.

"I'm sure we will have to discuss it with the team, but if I can help Femke achieve the best possible result, I will do so without a doubt."

The statements make it clear that Visma Lease a Bike will face the final stretch of the Tour de France Femmes with a different strategy than initially planned at the start of the race, after the reigning champion has publicly acknowledged that the fight for the yellow jersey is no longer within her reach.