'I know what I'm doing' – Pauline Ferrand-Prévot responds to weight loss critics ahead of 2026 season

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot knew the question was coming. “Voilà, finally,” she said once it was asked. It wasn’t about her Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift victory, nor was it about her dream Paris-Roubaix Femmes debut, or plans for the coming season. The question she was expecting was about her weight loss, a topic that has followed her since last summer’s Tour.

Ferrand-Prévot was criticised during the race, which she ended up winning by almost four minutes, for appearing thinner. Speaking in her winner’s press conference last August, she said she had received “quite a lot of complaints” online, some telling her that she was “not a good example for young people”. Still, she stressed, it was her choice to make. Male riders have long cut weight for Grand Tours, after all.

On Tuesday, Ferrand-Prévot was asked once again to revisit the topic. As reported by DirectVelo, she said she was surprised by how prominent the weight debate grew after the Tour.

“Once I realised what was happening, I was mostly upset for my parents,” she said. “I wondered if they were reading all this. But for me, there was no problem, nothing to create a big controversy about, because I simply felt I had done my job as I should have to give myself the best possible chance.”

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider won the final two Alpine stages of the Tour, sealing the overall ahead of Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ). It came as the pinnacle of her comeback season on the road, after she won gold on her mountain bike at the Olympics in 2024.

“What I didn’t understand is that people explained that I won the Tour solely because I lost weight like that,” she said. “But the reality is that, behind it all, there was an enormous amount of preparation, dozens of very difficult, specific training sessions… That’s the main reason for that Tour victory.

“It’s not just a question of weight loss, but also of sacrifices. Every girl would weigh 30kg if it were that easy.”

In an interview with Tages-Anzeiger after the Tour, Movistar rider Marlen Reusser said the “new standard” Ferrand-Prévot had set around weight “puts pressure” on the rest of the peloton.

Asked about the criticism she received, Ferrand-Prévot said on Tuesday: “If I started reading everything on social media, it wouldn’t work… You have to filter it. My family and my team are there for me – they are the people to listen to and trust, the ones to value.”

The Frenchwoman also confirmed she plans to prepare similarly for her yellow jersey defence next summer. “It’s actually something I’ve been used to doing for my major goals for about ten years now,” she said.

“I know what I'm doing. We're in a professional sport, we're surrounded by doctors and nutritionists, there's no reason not to do things to the best of our ability. I want to arrive at the 2026 Tour de France as the best Pauline I can be, once again, to try and win the Tour de France for the second time. I've always given my all in my preparations, and I'm not going to change now.”

A former road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike world champion, Ferrand-Prévot has set herself ambitious goals for her second season back on the road. “My goal is to fight for the very top in every race I start,” she said. “Last season I was very good on several occasions, but I still want to work on my consistency.

“That will be a challenge, but it’s one I’m happy to take on. I finished on the podium many times in 2025, but secretly I want to win more.”

Her current programme will see her race Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Vuelta Femenina before the Tour. She is not expected to defend her Paris-Roubaix title.