After 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, now 2023. For the fifth time in her career, the Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the cross-country mountain bike world championships, winning on Saturday August 12, in the forest of Glentress, south of Edinburgh (Scotland). “PFP” honored her status as defending champion by crossing the finish line with a wide lead (1 min 14 sec) over her first competitor and compatriot, Loana Lecomte. Dutchman Puck Pieterse completes the podium after crashing in the first of the race’s seven loops.

“I told myself to stay calm in all circumstances. I had taken a light bike and wanted to make the difference on the climbs. The goal this season was to be 100% for this race. I worked so hard to keep this title. If there was a day when you had to give everything, it was today, “said the Rémoise on arrival, at the microphone of FranceTVsport.

If Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is used to collecting world champion rainbow jerseys, the one acquired this Saturday has a very special flavor. It allows her to position herself a little more as the big favorite at the Olympic Games, since cross-country mountain biking will be on the program for Paris 2024. A relief for her, and for the whole tricolor clan. Since the start of the World Cycling Championships (August 3 to 13) being held in Scotland and bringing together thirteen cycling disciplines, no Frenchman had won gold in an event on the program of the next Olympic Games.

At 31, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is still chasing after her first great moment of Olympism. The Frenchwoman has multiplied the disappointments there during her career. 26th in London in 2012, she had abandoned four years later in Rio, before finishing only 10th in Tokyo. “This title does not mean that I will be an Olympic champion, there is still a lot of work to do. But we are on the right track, ”said the Frenchwoman.

Second title for her in Scotland

To try to change the game in Paris, “PFP” made a major change this winter by becoming the first woman to join the British team Ineos-Grenadiers alongside road stars like Tom Pidcock, Egan Bernal or Geraint Thomas. A real upheaval in the training program of a runner accustomed to working alone since the start of her career.

While waiting to try to perhaps get on the podium in Paris next year, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot continues in any case to inflate her prize list. She now has fifteen world champion titles in all categories (road, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, gravel). In Scotland, she hadn’t waited for the cross-country mountain bike race to add a new rainbow tunic to her wardrobe. By Thursday, she was on the top step of the podium in short track mountain biking.