Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will not race again in 2026, her Visma-Lease a Bike team confirmed on Friday.
The Frenchwoman was off the pace and under the weather during her Tour de France Femmes title defense last month and left the race with two stages remaining.
She has not raced since and, after reports that she would skip the World Championships, it’s now clear that she will not race again this year.
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“In consultation with the team, it has been decided that Pauline will take the time to rest and recover for the remainder of the season,” read a statement from the Visma-Lease a Bike team,
“We wish Pauline all the best for the weeks ahead and look forward to seeing her racing with the team next season.”
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After dominating the Tour last year, Ferrand-Prévot fell completely flat this time around, losing time in the time trial and in the punchy stages before the race even reached the critical summit finish at Mont Ventoux. By that point, she was down in 14th place, 14 minutes behind the leader, and the Bald Mountain would turn out to be the scene of her final pedal strokes in the race and in her season.
Ferrand-Prévot had initially brushed aside any underlying issues, suggesting the level of the peloton had simply increased and even revealing she hit personal power records as she was getting dropped on stage 5.
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However, in announcing her exit from the race ahead of stage 8, the team stated that she “was not feeling well this morning”, and Ferrand-Prévot stated: “I had to quit the race after being sick on the Friday night.”
It would now appear there’s a bigger issue at play, with the team highlighting the need to “rest and recover” for the final months of the season.
Ferrand-Prévot therefore ends her 2026 campaign, without a win, despite going close at the Tour of Flanders, where she was the runner-up, and Paris-Roubaix, where she was third as she and teammate Marianne Vos were outfoxed by Franziska Koch.
She rode a fairly quiet Vuelta Femenina before turning to the Tour de France, where she was expected to lead the charge for yellow once again but where her season ultimately ended prematurely.
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