Pauline Ferrand-Prévot explains how she used the ‘red zone’ during her Tour de France Femmes coup

Ferrand-Prévot cleverly responded to an attack from Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance–Soudal Quick-Step) and soon dropped the Australian, going solo to the finish. “It’s unbelievable. I went as fast as I could. I knew I was strong, but I didn’t know how strong I was compared to the others. That was the unknown for me,” she said in her flash interview.

“I decided to return to road racing and wasn’t very successful at first. I started the season and worked so hard. Over the past month or two, I’ve done a lot of altitude training in the mountains. Now it’s paying off, so I’m so happy I gave it everything,” she said, beaming with pride.

“It was my dream to win. This victory proves I made the right choice. I’m very happy,” said the delighted Frenchwoman, who was able to put her background to good use on the Col de la Madeleine. “It was like a mountain bike effort, where you have to control your effort.”

“I know how to do that, by putting myself on the edge of the red zone and staying there,” explained the Visma | Lease a Bike rider. “The last kilometer was so painful. I wanted to create the biggest possible gap for tomorrow. I tried to enjoy it, but it wasn’t over until the finish line.”

The French rider expressed her gratitude to her teammates for their efforts. “The team has done an incredible job this week to make sure I used as little energy as possible. I really want to thank my team. I’m so happy it worked out, hopefully we can finish the job tomorrow,” she said, staying focused with one more Alpine stage to go on Sunday.

“It’s a dream to wear this jersey, and I don’t even know what to say,” she said about the maillot jaune. “It’s more than I expected, and I’m just so, so happy. I can’t wait to see my teammates and share this jersey with them, because they played a huge, huge role in this victory and in earning this yellow jersey.”

She also praised her fellow countrymen. “The French fans have been amazing since the start of the Tour de France. Today on the climb, I was really struggling, but I could hear all the people along the road and it just gave me such a good feeling,” she said gratefully.