Greig Leach

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) showed us that she is still a force in women's road cycling. She is a former UCI Road World Champion from 2014. She moved away from road cycling to compete in mountain biking going so far as to win the Gold Medal in the sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics (yes, I painted that event, and her). This is quite the return to the sport. While she hasn't officially won the fourth edition of the renewed Tour de France Femmes, she now has just over two and a half minutes to the woman she left on the way up the Col de la Madeleine. All things are possible, including bad luck, as we have seen too often in this Tour already. But it is highly likely that she will become the first French woman to win the reincarnated Tour de France Femmes. She is also will be the first French person to win one of their home Tour since the late 80s either male or female. Chapeau! Also, for those counting, this is the third stage in a row won by a French woman.