Pauline Ferrand-Prévot fights back from crash to win Paris-Roubaix... and calls famous win "good training" for the Tour de France

Olympic mountain bike champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's impressive return to road racing continued as the French rider stormed to victory in Paris-Roubaix, battling back from a crash earlier in the day to win solo.

Now the first French rider to win the women's edition of the Hell of the North, Ferrand-Prévot overcame the adversity of being involved in a major crash at 50km to go, before utilising her bike-handling excellence to tame the cobbles and win by a minute ahead of Letizia Borghesi and Lorena Wiebes.

While Ferrand-Prévot was not as badly impacted as teammate Linda Riedmann, the former world champion was one of many to hit the deck as the favourites turned onto the the four-star Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée sector.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot prise dans une chute ! A l'entrée du 12e secteur pavé, la Française est allée au sol, heureusement sans gravité.

Qui va remporter #ParisRoubaixFemmes ? pic.twitter.com/dPLihOOgxa

— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) April 12, 2025

For some time it seemed as though that might be her day done, world champion and Flanders queen Lotte Kopecky making her move with Ferrand-Prévot's teammate Marianne Vos. However, they were pulled back and the pace stalled, allowing a large group back into the race, Ferrand-Prévot attacking soon after to quickly catch and drop sole leader Emma Norsgaard.

🇫🇷 Pauline Ferrand-Prévot makes a move!

Could we see the first French winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes today?#ParisRoubaixFemmes pic.twitter.com/wVSpGbs60e

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) April 12, 2025

Such was the French rider's control on the race from that point, the only question was who would finish on the podium, Borghesi and Wiebes completing the top three.

🏆🇫🇷 @FERRANDPREVOT remporte #ParisRoubaixFemmes avec @GoZwift 2025 ! Première victoire française de l’histoire !

🏆🇫🇷 @FERRANDPREVOT wins #ParisRoubaixFemmes avec @GoZwift 2025! pic.twitter.com/EYBRLQzUkq

— Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift (@RoubaixFemmes) April 12, 2025

"It was a great day for us," the winner told the TV cameras from the famous Roubaix Velodrome. "I didn't expect this, to be honest, I was not planned for Flanders and Roubaix, because I felt good I said, 'Why not? I want to try'. It was also good training to get in position for the first stage of the Tour de France because it will be quite hectic so I wanted to [use] racing as training... it's not too bad, I have to say.

"The Tour de France is the main goal of the season so I want to be 100 per cent for that and win it within three years, so I think we are on a good step and are building something."

Not a bad training ride by anyone's standards.

Ferrand-Prévot's victory was also notable for Visma-Lease a Bike once again using the Gravaa KAPS on-the-fly tyre pressure adjustment system to alter tyre pressure for the contrast in surface between the cobbles and asphalt. The team have been using it for a couple of years and Vos also rode it to victory at the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships.

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Van Aert and Vos have been spotted using it ahead of Roubaix, while Ferrand-Prévot also rode it during the Tour of Flanders last weekend so would likely have been utilising it again today.

It is yet another honour for the 33-year-old's palmares, Ferrand-Prévot returning to road racing this season having previously been world champion and a winner of Flèche Wallonne, Roubaix also now sitting alongside her cyclo-cross and gravel world titles and her multi-year domination of the mountain bike calendar.

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Even if she's insisting it's all just "training", the Visma-Lease a Bike rider's spring has seen her make an instant impact back in the WorldTour peloton, finishing third at Strade Bianche and second at the Tour of Flanders. Now 10 years on from her last big wins on the road, this might just be the best of the lot and, given those post-race quotes, you get the feeling there will be more to come too. 

Elsewhere, on a tough day for the British hopes, Cat Ferguson and Pfieffer Georgi suffered crashes, both riders able to continue and the latter finishing just outside the top-10 in 13th.

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