Marlen Reusser is the latest to weigh in on Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s Tour de France Femmes (TdFF) victory—saying that she secretly hoped she wouldn’t have won.
This season, Ferrand-Prévot returned to the road after focusing on mountain biking, immediately winning Paris–Roubaix and now the Tour.
Although she is undeniably impressed by Ferrand-Prévot’s performance, she admits it was also startling. The French rider from Visma–Lease a Bike prepared for the Tour in seclusion, buying a home in Andorra and stepping away from competition for three months. Her plan: a strict diet.
On “Tour weight”
PFP herself told Sports.fr she shed four kilos. At first glance, it seems minor, but for a rider weighing around 50 kilos, that’s nearly 10 percent of body mass. Comparing images from Paris–Roubaix to the Tour, it’s clear she lost significant weight to prepare for the TdFF.
Vollering on Ferrand-Prévot: ‘She wasn’t even breathing’
“We were secretly hoping she wouldn’t take the victory,” Reusser said to Swiss outlet Tages-Anzeiger, reflecting on how extreme PFP’s preparation was.
Weight management has long been a sensitive issue in cycling. Modern training focuses on maintaining performance with adequate carbohydrate intake. Still, it’s common to see riders reach their so-called “Tour weight”—gaunt and several kilos lighter than earlier in the season.
Power-to-weight on the climbs
Or, if there is a race a rider is targeting that has plenty of climbing. Mathieu van der Poel, for instance, lost several kilos before the 2024 road worlds in Zurich to improve his climbing speed. Osgoode, Ont.’s Derek Gee also admitted he lost a fair amount of weight after his 2023 Giro breakthrough, in order to be a GC contender. Something he now has achieved — 9th at the Tour, and 4th at the Giro d’Italia. Comparing photos from when he was focusing on the track to now, it’s clear he’s shed several kilos.
Does this mean Reusser must also lose weight? She admits she asks herself the question, but she points to Demi Vollering, who said after the race: “I am not built to be the lightest rider in the peloton, and I won’t force my body into something it isn’t.”
Reusser’s unique perspective on weight in cycling
According to the Swiss report, Reusser sees Ferrand-Prévot’s diet from two angles: as a competitor, she admires the athletic achievement.
The Movistar rider has a somewhat unique perspective for a professional cyclist—she’s also a physician. As such, she questions the impact on the body: How much is optimization, and when does it become harmful? Studies are limited, she admits in the Swiss article. While elite female riders often fall below the typical body-fat range of 21–33 percent, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in danger, the Swiss star adds.
Prolonged energy deficiency, however, carries consequences—depression, injuries, digestive issues, anemia, and disrupted menstruation. Several riders have recently discussed—including Sherbrooke’s Magdeline Vallières—about the normalization of amenorrhea, when women become so lean they lose their period. The EF Education–Oatly team says their nutritionist ensures that, through a proper diet, this doesn’t continue.
Reusser worries about the message sent to young riders after PFP’s win. “What does an 18-year-old take from that, or a 17-year-old without a nutritionist?” she asks. She wants to continue balancing health and performance as she sets her sights on next year’s Tour.
PFP on her prep
PFP addressed the weight loss, admitting that her Tour weight is not sustainable and the ultra-lean body was temporary. “It’s part of the physical preparation, and it won’t last forever,” she said to cyclingnews.com She emphasized that her decision was a personal one and not intended as a standard for others to follow.
However, as the Cyclists Alliance points out—how often do their male counterparts receive as much press about their weights?
In a statement, the advocacy group said: “We are disappointed that women in sport receive a disproportionate amount of scrutiny about their bodies compared to their male counterparts. We encourage all of the voices in cycling to be leaders rather than followers, and to help change the dialogue in elite sport when it comes to weight and women’s bodies.”
Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen said that by gaining weight, he actually got stronger.
“When you’re young, all dream about being on the top of the Tour de France, you can’t weigh too much. I was very skinny when I started cycling, maybe around 60 kilos, and I think my body couldn’t build muscle very fast,” Abrahamsen told Velo. “Maybe I have some fast muscle fibers, but when I was too skinny, I couldn’t use them. I was pretty good as a junior, but afterward, I felt that I was a little bit too light and I had nothing to build on.”
At the 2025 Tour de France, the UNO-X rider took the biggest win of his career, taking Stage 11 in Toulouse.