Pauline Ferrand-Prévot stands as one of the most versatile and accomplished cyclists in the history of the sport, a French athlete whose prowess spans road racing, mountain biking, cyclo-cross, and gravel events.
Born on February 10, 1992, in Reims, France, she was immersed in cycling from a young age, growing up in a household where the sport was not just a passion but a way of life.
Her father owned a bicycle shop, while her mother managed a local cycling school, providing the perfect environment for Ferrand-Prévot to develop her skills alongside family members who shared her enthusiasm for two-wheeled pursuits.
This familial foundation fueled her early successes, leading her to join the French national team as a teenager and quickly rise through the ranks.
At just 17, she claimed European titles in junior time trials and cross-country mountain biking, signaling the arrival of a prodigy capable of excelling across disciplines.
Ferrand-Prévot’s career has been marked by resilience, including overcoming a serious injury in 2019—an iliac artery endofibrosis that required surgery—and a relentless drive that saw her return stronger, culminating in Olympic gold in 2024.
Now 33, she continues to compete at the elite level for Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women, embodying the spirit of a true all-rounder in women’s cycling.
Siblings
Pauline’s younger sibling, Evan Ferrand Prévot, began riding at the same cycling school run by their mother, forging a bond through shared training sessions and local races that instilled a competitive yet supportive dynamic.
Evan pursued his own path in cycling, participating in youth and junior competitions, though he did not reach the professional heights of his older sister.
The siblings’ early experiences together on the trails and roads of Reims helped Pauline hone her technical skills and mental toughness.
Career
Ferrand-Prévot’s professional career ignited in her late teens, blending raw talent with strategic versatility that would define her legacy.
By 2009, as a first-year junior, she secured the European time trial title and a bronze in the road race, followed swiftly by a win in the junior cross-country championships, showcasing her multi-discipline aptitude.
Transitioning to elite levels in 2010, she finished eighth at the World Cyclo-cross Championships despite competing against seasoned professionals, a feat that underscored her potential.
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Her breakthrough came in 2014 at age 22, when she claimed the UCI Road World Championship title in Ponferrada, Spain, marking France’s first women’s world road champion in over a decade.
This victory propelled her into the spotlight, with subsequent wins in classics like La Flèche Wallonne and strong showings in Grand Tours such as the Giro d’Italia Femminile.
In 2015, she expanded her dominance by taking the cyclo-cross world title and her first mountain bike cross-country world championship, becoming the first cyclist—male or female—to hold elite world titles simultaneously in road, cyclo-cross, and mountain biking.
A shift toward mountain biking in 2019, prompted by health challenges and a desire for Olympic focus, yielded four consecutive cross-country world titles from 2019 to 2022, alongside triumphs in short-track and marathon events.
After securing Olympic gold in Paris 2024, Ferrand-Prévot returned to road racing in 2025 with Visma | Lease a Bike Women, where her mountain-honed endurance and bike-handling skills shone through in a dominant performance at the Tour de France Femmes, including a solo victory on the Col de la Madeleine that clinched the overall yellow jersey—France’s first since the 1980s.
Throughout her career, she has raced for teams like Rabo-Liv and Canyon-SRAM, amassing over 100 victories while balancing the physical and mental demands of cross-discipline competition.
Accolades
Ferrand-Prévot holds six UCI World Championships across three disciplines: the 2014 road race, the 2015 cyclo-cross, and mountain bike cross-country titles in 2015, 2019, 2020, and 2022, plus a 2022 gravel world crown, making her the only rider to achieve world championship glory in road, cyclo-cross, mountain biking, and gravel.
Her Olympic pinnacle arrived in 2024 with gold in the women’s cross-country mountain bike event in Paris, ending a 12-year pursuit after prior appearances in London 2012 and Rio 2016.
On the road, highlights include the 2014 La Flèche Wallonne Féminile victory, second place at the 2015 Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and overall wins in stage races like the 2014 Emakumeen Bira.
The pinnacle of her 2025 road resurgence was the general classification triumph at the Tour de France Femmes, complemented by two stage victories, including the iconic Col de la Madeleine ascent, and a win in Paris-Roubaix Femmes.
In mountain biking, she boasts two European titles in 2020 and 2021, multiple French national championships, and four team relay world titles with France in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2022.
Additional honors encompass junior European golds in 2009 for time trial and cross-country, alongside consistent podiums in World Cup series across disciplines.
These achievements, tallied at over 100 professional wins by 2025, cement Ferrand-Prévot’s status as a transformative figure in women’s cycling.
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