{"id":256305,"date":"2026-08-05T17:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T17:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/i-think-its-over-pauline-ferrand-prevot-admits-defeat-in-tour-de-france-femmes-title-defence-after-struggles-on-stage-5\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T17:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T17:13:15","slug":"i-think-its-over-pauline-ferrand-prevot-admits-defeat-in-tour-de-france-femmes-title-defence-after-struggles-on-stage-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/05\/i-think-its-over-pauline-ferrand-prevot-admits-defeat-in-tour-de-france-femmes-title-defence-after-struggles-on-stage-5\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;I think it&#8217;s over&#8217; \u2013 Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot admits defeat in Tour de France Femmes title defence after struggles on stage 5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-c5e307a6-90e8-11f1-bf01-91fc9721690c\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tour-de-france-femmes\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tour-de-france-femmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tour de France Femmes<\/a> defending champion <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/pauline-ferrand-prevot\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/pauline-ferrand-prevot\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/pauline-ferrand-prevot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot<\/a> (Visma-Lease a Bike) lost more time on stage 5 of the race on Wednesday, and conceded that her hopes of winning the GC again this year are likely over.<\/p>\n<p>The lumpy stage through the rolling hills of the Beaujolais vineyards contained almost 3,000m of climbing and was too much for the Frenchwoman.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-c5e307a6-90e8-11f1-bf01-91fc9721690c-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Last year Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot was imperious, putting minutes into her rivals and taking two stage wins on the huge Alpine climbs. This year, however, she has not been at her best, losing more than two minutes on Tuesday\u2019s time trial and falling further out of contention on Wednesday\u2019s relentlessly lumpy <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/tour-de-france-femmes-demi-vollering-wins-climbing-skirmish-on-stage-5-in-three-rider-sprint\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/tour-de-france-femmes-demi-vollering-wins-climbing-skirmish-on-stage-5-in-three-rider-sprint\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/tour-de-france-femmes-demi-vollering-wins-climbing-skirmish-on-stage-5-in-three-rider-sprint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stage 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;jYDCcabO&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;X9\\\/mXVGac0NphghLH9hZaqWA5d3dhAM\\\/Ih07grnEyMLjuO2E&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand\">Cyclingnews<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The day was aggressive throughout, a large breakaway containing satellite riders for both the race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and second-placed Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez).<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">It was the Dutch rider\u2019s team who set a vicious speed on the day\u2019s penultimate classified climb, the Col de Durbize. French champion C\u00e9lia Gery upped the pace with 31km to go, before Vollering herself pushed on, leaving Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot trailing off the back. As Vollering\u2019s group crested the climb, one kilometre later, the former champion was well and truly gapped.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Eventually, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot linked up with another pre-race favourite, Anna van Der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), and the pair were joined by the EF Education-Oatly pair of C\u00e9drine Kerbaol and her EF Education-Oatly teammate, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/shimano-neutral-service-motorbike-knocks-noemi-ruegg-off-bike-amid-the-chaos-of-tour-de-france-femmes-stage-5-video\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/shimano-neutral-service-motorbike-knocks-noemi-ruegg-off-bike-amid-the-chaos-of-tour-de-france-femmes-stage-5-video\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/shimano-neutral-service-motorbike-knocks-noemi-ruegg-off-bike-amid-the-chaos-of-tour-de-france-femmes-stage-5-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Noemi R\u00fcegg, the victim of a crash<\/a>, for the ride to the line, eventually finishing 2.35 behind stage winner Vollering.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I felt fine right up until that infamous penultimate climb, where things were going well, but then, on the tougher, steeper section, I got a bit stuck,&#8221; Ferrand-Prevot said at the finish.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-fyxh5Fnc7QJContQjDrvDd\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-fyxh5Fnc7QJContQjDrvDd slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I tried standing up on the pedals and everything, but I could see I wasn\u2019t making any faster progress, so I said to myself: \u2018Right, OK, just do what you can\u2019 and that was it, I tried to give it my all right up to the finish. But I can\u2019t say I felt bad or that I had a moment of weakness. I think they\u2019re simply much stronger.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Both Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot and Van der Breggen needed to stay with the other favourites on stage 5 to have any chance of winning the overall, after losing time on Tuesday&#8217;s time trial. <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/i-quite-like-this-scenario-of-having-to-go-after-them-rather-than-being-the-favourite-pauline-ferrand-prevot-down-but-not-out-after-tour-de-france-femmes-time-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/i-quite-like-this-scenario-of-having-to-go-after-them-rather-than-being-the-favourite-pauline-ferrand-prevot-down-but-not-out-after-tour-de-france-femmes-time-trial\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/i-quite-like-this-scenario-of-having-to-go-after-them-rather-than-being-the-favourite-pauline-ferrand-prevot-down-but-not-out-after-tour-de-france-femmes-time-trial\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot fared the worst against the clock<\/a>, losing 2.13 to stage winner Reusser. Former time trial World Champion, Van Der Breggen finished Tuesday\u2019s ITT 1.09 back, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/we-need-to-change-the-plan-anna-van-der-breggens-tour-de-france-femmes-gc-hopes-thwarted-as-a-usual-strength-exposes-weakness\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/we-need-to-change-the-plan-anna-van-der-breggens-tour-de-france-femmes-gc-hopes-thwarted-as-a-usual-strength-exposes-weakness\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/we-need-to-change-the-plan-anna-van-der-breggens-tour-de-france-femmes-gc-hopes-thwarted-as-a-usual-strength-exposes-weakness\/\" rel=\"noopener\">her team unable to explain her lack of form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">With four stages to go, including Friday\u2019s mammoth climbing day to Mont Ventoux, the pair will need a miracle to even finish on the podium. While Van der Breggen isn&#8217;t too far out of touch, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot dropped down to 17th overall, five minutes behind Reusser.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            What to read next<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I have to be honest, yes,&#8221; Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot said when asked if her GC defence was over. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t seen the gap yet but I think it&#8217;s over. We have to refocus, to change the plan maybe.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;I just fight, I didn&#8217;t really look at the gap, I just fight to the end. There&#8217;s nothing I can do more than pushing on the pedals as much as possible. I think I felt good, and on the climb I was still feeling good but I wasn&#8217;t strong enough to follow.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;It\u2019s true that a journalist said to me earlier: \u2018Oh, but it was already clear yesterday in the time trial that you weren\u2019t feeling well.\u2019 I think the time trial was really a different kind of effort, but today, it\u2019s true that you could say, well, they\u2019re clearly a cut above, even on the climbs.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;So I\u2019m not ashamed to say it, and that\u2019s just how it is. You can\u2019t always win, but at least you can give it a go, and I certainly tried.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Another yellow jersey may now be out of reach for Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, but a stage win, wherever it comes, could well save her Tour, she said. She&#8217;s best-suited to Friday&#8217;s race up Mont Ventoux \u2013 if she has the legs for it.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;Well, any stage at all, I\u2019d say. Even if it\u2019s the last one, I\u2019ll take that too! We\u2019ll take everything!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"><em><strong>Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women&#8217;s cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women&#8217;s peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! <\/strong><\/em><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=PreTDFF26\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=PreTDFF26\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=PreTDFF26\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><em><strong>Join today.<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a><em\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/defending-champion-pauline-ferrand-prevot-falls-further-out-of-contention-in-tour-de-france-femmes-on-stage-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tour de France Femmes defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot (Visma-Lease a Bike) lost more time on stage 5 of the race on Wednesday, and conceded that her hopes of winning the GC again this year are likely over. The lumpy stage through the rolling hills of the Beaujolais vineyards contained almost 3,000m of climbing and was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-256305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}