Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers) has confirmed that this will be her last season in mountain biking, opening the door for a return to the road after riding the MTB event in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics,
The five-time Cross-Country World Champion was speaking after winning in Nové Mêsto in dominant solo fashion, continuing to keep up her form en route to her home games where she will likely be the leading favourite.
Having been one of the most successful multi-discipline athletes ever, an Olympic medal has managed to elude Ferrand-Prevot in both her earlier years on the road and more recently in mountain biking.
In the Rio 2016 road race, she finished 26th after coming eighth in London 2012, while in MTB she again managed eighth in Tokyo after two disappointing results at the two previous Games, with a DNF and 25th respectively.
“It's my last chance to try to be Olympic champion so I don’t want to miss it,” Ferrand-Prevot told Eurosport.
“It will be, for sure, my last year on MTB so I want to do everything possible to be good this year and try to win the Olympics at home.”
Ferrand-Prevot has long been a dominant force in the off-road discipline. She won her first senior MTB XCO world title in 2015 and her most recent title in that category came just last year in Scotland, where she also took the short-track (XCC) event.
"I think I did everything in MTB. I still like it but it doesn't make sense to continue,” she said.
“Also it’s my last chance to be Olympic champion at home so it’s good to finish there.”
The 32-year-old's change of focus away from MTB opens the door back to road competition, in which she was World Champion before in 2014. Apart from the French Nationals, she has barely competed in that discipline since 2018.
Ferrand-Prevot has stated previously that the new Tour de France Femmes is something which could see her move back to the discipline, especially as a French rider. Her last road contract ended in 2020 after four years with Canyon-SRAM.
“I do miss it, especially now that we have a Tour de France for women,” Ferrand-Prevot told Ineos Grenadiers teammate Geraint Thomas on his podcast back in October.
“I would like to ride the Tour de France one day. Right now I'm very focused on the Paris Olympics, but why not get back to road racing next year, or the year after? I would like that.”
The only problem, however, is that Ineos currently do not have a women’s team so that would mean an exit could be likely for the 12-time World Champion across disciplines.
She joined the British side in 2022 as their first-ever female rider. That was on a two-year deal with a view towards her home Olympics in Paris which is now just two months away.
For now, Ferrand-Prevot will be firmly locked in on continuing to dominate the mountain bike calendar, with the Paris MTB cross-country event on Sunday, July 28 a key focus.
