Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has confirmed that the upcoming World Championships will be the final mountain bike race of her storied career, admitting it feels 'strange' to be retiring the knobbly tyres but that she's 'at peace' with the decision.
The Frenchwoman has enjoyed a hugely successful career on the mountain bike, winning five world titles and recently adding Olympic gold, but she is focusing solely on road racing from 2025, leaving the Ineos Grenadiers set-up to join the dedicated Visma-Lease a Bike women's team.
In an emotional social media post, Ferrand-Prévot confirmed she will not compete in the remaining races in the World Cup series beyond the World Championships next weekend, which she described as her "last dance".
"In less than a week I will participate at my last MTB World championship, but also at my last MTB race. Tbh [to be honest], sounds a bit strange to write that, but I’m feeling happy and in peace with my decision, as I’ve a new goal and a new challenge on the road," Ferrand-Prévot wrote.
"Over the past years I got to met incredible people, seen amazing places. For sure, this sport will stay the number 1 in my heart."
The 2024 MTB Worlds will bring some circularity to it all, taking place in Pal Arinsal in Andorra, the country where she claimed her first Elite XCO world title back in 2015. It came on the back of world titles on the road and in cyclo-cross, in an extraordinary run of rainbow success that has since been enhanced by her taking the first-ever Gravel World Championship in 2022.
With five XCO world titles – plus a couple more in Short-Track and Marathon – and now the Olympic XCO title to her name, Ferrand-Prévot feels she has achieved everything she can on the mountain bike and is now ready to bring the curtain down, with a good chance of doing so with another rainbow jersey.
"In 2015, I got the gold medal here in Andorra for my first Mtb Elite World title. I would be extremely proud to closed this chapter of my life the same way. So, let’s have a good last dance," she wrote.
"Merci to the entire MTB community for what you bring to this sport. See you all next week."
Ferrand-Prévot, who won the road race world title at the age of 22, has not ridden a proper string of road races since 2018, when she was with Canyon-SRAM, while her main period of success was during her breakthrough in 2014 and 2015 with the team she's set to rejoin in 2025, then known as Rabobank. She has stated her desire to target the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes.
