Vollering’s team gears up for a turnaround: "The question is whether we’ll ever see this Ferrand-Prévot again"
Women's Cycling
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Follow us on GoogleFDJ-SUEZ won the polka dot jersey, finishing with three women in the top ten, and one of them even on the podium. The French team proved to be the strongest across the board throughout the Tour de France Femmes, but leader Demi Vollering was unable to prevail when she had to battle it out woman-to-woman against Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. The leader of Visma | Lease a Bike won the Tour, but according to FDJ-SUEZ boss Stephen Delcourt, there is reason to believe that 2026 will be different.
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The Frenchman enjoyed nine days with his team, he told IDLProCycling.com at the finish of the ninth stage. He believes Vollering's second place is a good start. “We believe in our plan, we still have four years to win the Tour. One woman was on another level this year, but we are happy with how we rode. We will have to work hard for the next step: coming back with a strong team to challenge Ferrand-Prévot.”
The Frenchwoman was outstanding in the final weekend of the Tour, winning stages on Saturday and Sunday. "Pauline was simply better; she is the best women's cycling has to offer. We are talking about a world champion on the road who prepared very well. After the Vuelta, she realized that FDJ-SUEZ was too strong for her and that she had to prepare differently. She is a rider who can do that, as she proved in 2024 at the Olympic Games on the MTB."
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Can Ferrand-Prévot do the same again in 2026?
FDJ-SUEZ won the Vuelta with Vollering, but Visma | Lease a Bike now has the Tour. “We had expected Pauline to do well, but we didn't know if she could do it for nine days. Now we have to analyze that and make sure we improve our tactics and preparation. I believe Demi will come back stronger. Now we can only celebrate the result we achieved. Maybe we'll win the yellow jersey in the tenth stage tonight,” joked Delcourt.
The team boss is very excited to see if Ferrand-Prévot will once again push the limits with weight loss and intense preparation in 2026. If she misses the mark by a few percentage points, Delcourt hopes that FDJ-SUEZ will be ready to strike. “I don't think you can say we saw the best Demi when she crashed (on day 3, ed.). She was still good, but if you want to compete with Ferrand-Prévot, you have to be the best of the best.”
“I saw a good Demi, just like Evita Muzic and Juliette Labous,” Delcourt continued, referring to numbers ten and seven in the final standings. “But even they will have to be at their very best to beat Ferrand-Prévot.” The always outspoken Frenchman does, however, express some reservations about the Visma star: “The question is whether we will see this version of Pauline again. She has worked really hard...”
Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])
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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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