Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) took a sensational solo victory at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday, finishing 58 seconds clear of Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) in the famous velodrome.
She had attacked 25km from home, while Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) outsprinted Ferrand-Prevot’s teammate Marianne Vos for third place.
After crashing earlier in the race, the Frenchwoman regained her place in the peloton and then attacked 25km from home, first bridging up to lone leader Emma Norsgaard, (Lidl-Trek), before dropping the Dane on the Camphin-en-Pévèle section of cobbles.
By the time pre-race favourite Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) began to chase, Ferrand-Prévot’s victory was assured and French fans were already celebrating the nation’s debut success in the five-year-old women’s race and their first in the ‘Hell of the North’ since Frédéric Guesdon won the men’s event back in 1997.
A Roubaix debutant, Ferrand-Prévot only got her first taste of the cobbles during her team’s recon of the course earlier this week and admitted in the aftermath of her victory that she’d been sick in the two days leading into the race. She added that she only took the decision to start hours before it got under way. ‘This may be the best victory of my career,’ she said in her post-race interview.
How it unfolded
During a frantic opening, several vain attempts were made to form a breakaway before Quinty Ton (LIV-AlUla-Jayco) and Aurela Nerlo (Winspace-Orange-Seal) managed to escape from the peloton. The pair gradually built a lead, their advantage reaching its maxium of 2-40 going onto the first section of cobbles (number 17 in reverse order).
That first taste of the pavé stirred the peloton into action, and the deficit on the two escapees began to tumble. With 70km remaining, Ellen van Dijck attacked after her Lidl-Trek teammate Lizzie Deignan had set the pace in the peloton through the first cobbled sections.
Leaving cobbled section 15, where British teenager Cat Ferguson (Movistar) crashed heavily, the two leaders had just 30 seconds on Van Dijck and 45 seconds on a much-reduced peloton. By the next section, Van Dijck had joined the leaders, making three up front. Nerlo then lost contact on section 13, Ton following suit on the road sector that followed the cobbles due to a mechanical issue.
Turning into section 12, Visma’s Linda Riedmann slid off near the front of the peloton, taking a number of other riders with her, including teammate Ferrand-Prévot. Amidst the chaos, SD Worx duo Kopecky and Wiebes accelerated and quickly rode up to Van Dijck. Marianne Vos was the only rider to bridge up initially, but Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto), Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), Jelena Erić (Movistar) and Romy Kasper (Human Powered Health) soon joined the leading quartet.
Over the next dozen or so kilometres, Kopecky kept probing for weakness amidst her rivals, her frequent accelerations splitting the lead group but never giving her a significant advantage, with Vos always very quick to respond. The stop-start action at the front eventually allowed the Ferrand-Prévot group to rejoin the frontrunners.
The next key move from this 20-strong group came as it exited section 8, Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek) choosing the lull that came with the return to tarmac to launch a stinging attack. As the rest of the peloton waited for each other to chase, the Dane rapidly opened up a 30-second lead.
With 25km left, Ferrand-Prévot took advantage of a short rise to jump clear. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider bridged up to Norsgaard coming out of section 6, where the pair led by 15 seconds and extended this lead as the bunch hesitated once again. Going into section 5 at Camphin-en-Pévèle their advantage was 30 seconds.
Racing through this section, the multi-talented Ferrand-Prévot, a world champion on the road, gravel, mountain bike and in cyclo-cross, edged away from Norsgaard and had 40 seconds on the peloton coming out of it. She continued to gain ground on the infamous Carrefour de l’Arbre section that followed, teammate Vos marking all of the moves behind.
Coming out of section 3, the Frenchwoman led the favourites by a minute and she maintained this gap into the velodrome despite a flurry of attacks. The chasers managed to reel in Norsgaard, but Ferrand-Prévot flew on to add another historic victory to her illustrious palmarès.
2025 Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, 148.5km
1. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 3:40:07
2. Letizia Borghesi (Ita) EF Education-Oatly, +0:58
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +1:01
4. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Alison Jackson (Can) EF Education-Oatly
6. Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Uno-X Mobility
7. Elise Chabbey (Swi) FDJ-Suez
8. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto
9. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek
10. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto, at s.t.
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