{"id":414119,"date":"2026-01-15T07:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T07:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/414119\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T07:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T07:25:09","slug":"i-know-what-im-doing-pauline-ferrand-prevot-responds-to-weight-loss-critics-ahead-of-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/414119\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I know what I’m doing’ \u2013 Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot responds to weight loss critics ahead of 2026 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot<\/a> knew the question was coming. \u201cVoil\u00e0, finally,\u201d she said once it was asked. It wasn\u2019t about her Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift<\/a> victory, nor was it about her dream Paris-Roubaix<\/a> Femmes debut, or plans for the coming season. The question she was expecting was about her weight loss, a topic that has followed her since last summer\u2019s Tour.<\/p>\n

Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot was criticised during the race, which she ended up winning by almost four minutes<\/a>, for appearing thinner. Speaking in her winner\u2019s press conference last August<\/a>, she said she had received \u201cquite a lot of complaints\u201d online, some telling her that she was \u201cnot a good example for young people\u201d. Still, she stressed, it was her choice to make. Male riders have long cut weight for Grand Tours, after all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot was asked once again to revisit the topic. As reported by DirectVelo<\/a>, she said she was surprised by how prominent the weight debate grew after the Tour.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOnce I realised what was happening, I was mostly upset for my parents,\u201d she said. \u201cI wondered if they were reading all this. But for me, there was no problem, nothing to create a big controversy about, because I simply felt I had done my job as I should have to give myself the best possible chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Visma-Lease a Bike<\/a> rider won the final two Alpine stages of the Tour, sealing the overall ahead of Demi Vollering<\/a> (FDJ-SUEZ<\/a>). It came as the pinnacle of her comeback season on the road, after she won gold on her mountain bike at the Olympics<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I didn\u2019t understand is that people explained that I won the Tour solely because I lost weight like that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the reality is that, behind it all, there was an enormous amount of preparation, dozens of very difficult, specific training sessions\u2026 That\u2019s the main reason for that Tour victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a question of weight loss, but also of sacrifices. Every girl would weigh 30kg if it were that easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In an interview with Tages-Anzeiger<\/a> after the Tour, Movistar rider Marlen Reusser said the \u201cnew standard\u201d Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot had set around weight \u201cputs pressure\u201d on the rest of the peloton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Asked about the criticism she received, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot said on Tuesday: \u201cIf I started reading everything on social media, it wouldn\u2019t work\u2026 You have to filter it. My family and my team are there for me \u2013 they are the people to listen to and trust, the ones to value.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Frenchwoman also confirmed she plans to prepare similarly for her yellow jersey defence next summer. \u201cIt\u2019s actually something I\u2019ve been used to doing for my major goals for about ten years now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI know what I’m doing. We’re in a professional sport, we’re surrounded by doctors and nutritionists, there’s no reason not to do things to the best of our ability. I want to arrive at the 2026 Tour de France as the best Pauline I can be, once again, to try and win the Tour de France for the second time. I’ve always given my all in my preparations, and I’m not going to change now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike world champion, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot has set herself ambitious goals for her second season back on the road. \u201cMy goal is to fight for the very top in every race I start,\u201d she said. \u201cLast season I was very good on several occasions, but I still want to work on my consistency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will be a challenge, but it\u2019s one I\u2019m happy to take on. I finished on the podium many times in 2025, but secretly I want to win more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her current programme will see her race Strade Bianche<\/a>, the Tour of Flanders<\/a>, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne<\/a>, Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge<\/a> and the Vuelta Femenina<\/a> before the Tour. She is not expected to defend her Paris-Roubaix title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot knew the question was coming. \u201cVoil\u00e0, finally,\u201d she said once it was asked. It wasn\u2019t about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-414119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}