French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt wins women's Tour de France on her first attempt

French cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt clinched victory in the women’s Tour de France on her first attempt on Sunday, launching an attack at the final stage to increase her overnight lead. 

The 33-year-old finished 3:42 ahead of 2023 champion Demi Vollering from the Netherlands and 4:09 clear of the defending champion, Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma.  

“After my Olympic title, I said I would try to win the Tour de France in the next three years,” said Ferrand-Prévôt, who won gold in mountain biking at last year’s Paris Games. “So here I am, the first (time).” 

“My teammates worked super hard for me all week long. I just want to say thank you and congrats to them,” she said, “I love you so much girls, and thank you for everything.” 

Ferrand-Prévôt seized control of the race with a solo breakaway on the last climb of Saturday’s eight and penultimate stage. That gave her an overnight lead of 2:37 over Australian rider Sarah Gigante and 3:18 over Vollering. 

Sunday saw the racers undertake a 124-kilometre trek from Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel with three big mountain climbs. 

Unlike last year’s race, which was decided by just four seconds in the closest finish in the history of both the women’s and men’s tours, Ferrand-Prévôt faced less drama. She did not face any big attacks and instead launched one of her own with six kilometres remaining in the Tour. 

Roared on by roadside crowds, she soloed to the finish before collapsing to the ground, exhausted but elated. 

Vollering was 20 seconds behind in second place and Niewiadoma followed in third place as they sprinted to the line. 

Having won Olympic gold and conquered the cobblestones of the Paris-Roubaix Classic, Ferrand-Prévôt added another line to her glittering resumé with a Tour victory, 11 years after winning the world road race title.