Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt’s day of glory, definitively in the legend of cycling… while waiting for the Tour de France

At 32 years old, and after fifteen world champion titles in all disciplines, Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt finally became Olympic cross-country mountain bike champion on Sunday.

“Look at my dad, he’s a conductor.”teases, hilarious, Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt. For several minutes, the brand new Olympic cross-country mountain bike champion has been savoring the moment, Sunday July 28, while her father sets the pace for a Marseillaise sung by the audience.

Walled up in silence for many months to protect herself before “the date of his life”the Reims native this time takes the time to respond to media requests. Between two words, and without hiding her emotion, she does not hesitate to interrupt herself to turn to the public.

“I’ve kept so much to myself these past few months… I was looking forward to being able to share, to live normally again. I’m happy to be able to enjoy being with people again,” she breathes. It’s been a good hour since “PFP” crossed the line in the lead, almost three minutes ahead of her pursuers, after having dominated the race. But the French public is still there, singing to the glory of the one who, with this gold medal around her neck, is settling a little further into the pantheon of French sport.

“It’s the victory of a lifetime, a perfect day and race. I was in robot mode. I didn’t want to show my emotions. I wanted to see in the first lap how the others were, I saw that I was having an incredible day. I did all the climbs at full speed, the clean descents to recover”remembers the Reims native after the race, with a moist look that betrays her emotion. It must be said that, until now, her Olympic history has been cruel. Having arrived as favourite each time, she left London, Rio and Tokyo empty-handed.

“It’s incredible. I don’t realize it at all, maybe in the shower tonight when I’m alone. I was able to savor it in the last lap”she adds, caught up in the media whirlwind inherent to her new medal. Unstoppable on her mountain bike, “PFP” this time takes the time to savor, falling into the arms of her staff, but also of her loved ones, in the front row of this triumph. “I have no words…”warns Sylviane Dubau, his mother, “I’m flying, it’s magical here in France with this crazy crowd. What’s happening to her is amazing. She’s been telling us for days that she was going to do it, she was incredibly determined for this race…”

“We are proud of her. We always knew she would be great, but to this extent… I always told her she would be world champion, she has been fifteen times, but Olympic champion is something else again. Especially since it was her last chance.”

Sylviane Dubau, mother of Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt

to franceinfo: sport

A plan that went off without a hitch, despite the risk of incidents specific to mountain biking, which unfortunately affected the two other favourites, the Frenchwoman Loana Lecomte and the Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse. “Pauline is incredible. We had the impression that nothing could happen to her, that she was in control of everything. Bravo to this immense champion,” greets Tony Estanguet along the line, delighted to witness this second gold medal for the French team, under a blazing sun, which however shone less brightly than the queen of mountain biking.

By her own admission, Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt only eased off in the last of the seven rounds. “I pushed myself a little less because I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes so I still enjoyed it, I’m happy. Afterwards it’s true that I was so focused that it was hard to really enjoy the public but I can enjoy it now”she confides, with yet another smile before drawing a heart with her fingers in the direction of the thousands of fans still present.

“Thank you Pauline”the Marseillaise and others”“He who does not jump is not French” resonate in a loop at the foot of the Elancourt hill, in long minutes of happiness, out of time. The French public is enjoying the moment all the more because it knows that Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt will hang up her mountain bike at the end of the season, to return to road cycling, she who was already world champion in 2014. It is now no longer a secret: the Champenoise dreams of the Tour de France.

“She just won the only thing she was missing in mountain biking. But she’s a cycling addict. I understood that she’s missing something in cycling: it’s called the Tour de France. That’s all she’s missing, but she’s capable of it.”assures Yvan Clolus, the coach of the French team, specifying that Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt is giving herself “two or three years to go and get it”.

One thing is certain: his parents are ready, like his mother, Sylviane: “She was the world mountain bike champion in France in Les Gets, she is the Olympic champion in France today. For next year, we really have an interest in buying a van to follow her on the Tour de France…”. A Grand Boucle where the new Olympic champion will not come as a tourist, but, as always with her, for the win.