"I don’t feel physically and mentally ready": Ferrand-Prévot withdraws from Gravel World Championships

Don’t look for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot at the Gravel World Championships in Leuven on Saturday. The Frenchwoman, who was the world champion in the discipline in 2022, has decided not to travel to Belgium. "I don’t feel physically and mentally ready," she announced in a message on her social media. Last week, she made her return to road racing at the World Championships in Zürich.

"It was originally planned for me to race in the Gravel World Championships, but I have to register a DNS as I feel physically and mentally not ready," Ferrand-Prévot wrote on Instagram. "For now, I will continue to enjoy my beautiful life, reflect on what I’ve achieved this season, and recover so I can be ready for the next season, because I will always dream big."

Starting next season, Ferrand-Prévot will race for Visma | Lease a Bike, the same team as her partner Dylan van Baarle. She is determined to give everything she has to win the Tour de France Femmes, after completing her mountain biking career this summer by winning gold at the Olympics. Her return to road racing at the World Championships in Zürich last week didn’t go as she had hoped. She didn’t finish the race in Switzerland.

Ferrand-Prévot proud of her learning curve

"Still, I’m happy because I’ve learned so much in the past weeks," she said on social media after the race. "I never expected this early comeback to be anything but a learning process, and it was important not to let other people’s expectations affect mine. Everything takes time, and there are no shortcuts."

"I’m especially happy that I’ve had the privilege of riding alongside great champions and I look back on a fantastic week with the French women’s team," said Ferrand-Prévot, who felt the fatigue after the World Championships. "I need rest and feel tired, but I’m already motivated to have a productive winter to achieve my goals."