Olympic mountain bike champion 'had no choice' but to leave Ineos Grenadiers to race on the road

The recently crowned Olympic mountain bike champion, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, has said that she had no choice other than to leave Ineos Grenadiers this year due to their continued lack of a women’s road team. 

Ferrand-Prévot is a five-time mountain bike world champion but has also tasted success on the road, prior to prioritising other disciplines. The Frenchwoman won the elite women’s road race at the 2014 World Championships in Spain. 

Speaking to L’Equipe this week after completing her move to Visma-Lease a Bike, Ferrand-Prévot said that her new team will help facilitate her ambitions to win the Tour de France Femmes in the years to come, something that wouldn’t have been possible if she had stayed put at Ineos. 

She said: "They [Ineos Grenadiers] do not have plans to make a women's team at the moment. And that's why I changed teams… It was a very, very beautiful experience for two years. It was incredible. But unfortunately, I have no other choice if I wanted to do road racing next year.

"Do you know what I said to my mother when I was little? 'Mum, I wish I was a boy so I could do the Tour de France.' I think I was ten years old, I really told her that. Now, this is an opportunity that presents itself to me, I can't pass it up."

Joining Visma will see Ferrand-Prévot link up with Marianne Vos once more after the two riders enjoyed a spell alongside one another at the team formerly known as Rabobank-Liv. 

"Marianne wrote to me when she found out a few weeks ago that I was coming," Ferrand-Prévot said. "She is really someone who gave me a lot when I was at Rabobank. She is really a role model for me. Being back with her also weighed in the balance for my signing with Visma."

Vos is very much seen as being the lead rider on the Visma-Lease a Bike women’s team, but Ferrand-Prévot said that their different attributes will ultimately benefit the team in the long run. 

"Marianne is more into the classics, a bit of a sprinter," she said. "I know that I will be able to try to help her win some great races, and she will be able to play her part in the Tour de France Femmes and help me too. We made a great pair at Rabobank. I have a lot of respect for her, she does too. We make a good duo."

She added: "Visma confirmed to me that I will be the leader for the Grand Tours and that they want to build a team around me. The girls they take will know that they will have to ride for me. 

"Of course, they will have to trust me for that. It's also up to me to put in the effort, and create bonds with all the girls during the training camps. But it's also a job, and like in any job, you don't always get along with everyone all the time."