Lance Armstrong believes that competition helped Pauline Ferrand-Prévot achieve success: "I imagine she will receive Christmas cards from both ladies"

“What a nine days it has been,” the American looks back on the 2025 edition of the Tour de France Femmes. It flew by, and I can tell you who else flew: Pauline. What a boss ride. She rode so dominantly and strongly.”

“I didn't see it coming,” Armstrong admits. “But she was in control the whole time, in every aspect. Uphill, downhill, in the peloton. Vollering finished second, 3.42 minutes behind. There was again such a big gap between second and sixth place, which shows where they stood in relation to each other. Pauline was simply much better.”

According to Armstrong, the fact that Ferrand-Prévot also wanted to win Sunday's stage says something. "We saw a grimace for the first time, the suffersmile. It shows her character, because she didn't have to do that with the minutes she had in the lead. Part of the world would say: take it easy, stay in the peloton, and keep your yellow jersey."

"But it shows guts to say: no, I have the yellow jersey and I want to win. That's not always popular, but as far as I can tell, she doesn't care. She wants to win," he explains. "And rightly so. There were so many people cheering her on. I can't imagine any other French athlete who is bigger than her."

However, he does believe that Ferrand-Prévot received valuable assistance from other teams. “Juliette Labous was the best domestique of the day, both for Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot. I imagine she will receive Christmas cards from both ladies. She didn't even have to ride that hard because the difference had already been made,” said Armstrong, questioning the tactics of FDJ-Suez.