{"id":67894,"date":"2025-08-15T02:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/67894\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T02:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:45:12","slug":"marlen-reusser-secretly-hoped-pfp-wouldnt-win-the-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/67894\/","title":{"rendered":"Marlen Reusser secretly hoped PFP wouldn’t win the Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marlen Reusser is the latest to weigh in on Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s Tour de France Femmes (TdFF)<\/a> victory\u2014saying that she secretly hoped she wouldn\u2019t have won.<\/p>\n

This season, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot returned to the road after focusing on mountain biking, immediately winning Paris\u2013Roubaix and now the Tour.<\/p>\n

Although she is undeniably impressed by Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s performance, she admits it was also startling. The French rider from Visma\u2013Lease 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.<\/p>\n

On \u201cTour weight\u201d<\/p>\n

PFP herself told Sports.fr<\/a> she shed four kilos. At first glance, it seems minor, but for a rider weighing around 50 kilos, that\u2019s nearly 10 percent of body mass. Comparing images from Paris\u2013Roubaix to the Tour, it\u2019s clear she lost significant weight to prepare for the TdFF.<\/p>\n

Vollering on Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot: \u2018She wasn\u2019t even breathing\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were secretly hoping she wouldn\u2019t take the victory,\u201d Reusser said to Swiss outlet Tages-Anzeiger<\/a>, reflecting on how extreme PFP\u2019s preparation was.<\/p>\n

Weight management has long been a sensitive issue in cycling. Modern training focuses on maintaining performance with adequate carbohydrate intake. Still, it\u2019s common to see riders reach their so-called \u201cTour weight\u201d\u2014gaunt and several kilos lighter than earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

Power-to-weight on the climbs<\/p>\n

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.\u2019s Derek Gee also admitted he lost a fair amount of weight<\/a> after his 2023 Giro breakthrough, in order to be a GC contender. Something he now has achieved \u2014 9th at the Tour, and 4th at the Giro d\u2019Italia. Comparing photos from when he was focusing on the track to now, it\u2019s clear he\u2019s shed several kilos.<\/p>\n

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: \u201cI am not built to be the lightest rider in the peloton, and I won\u2019t force my body into something it isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reusser\u2019s unique perspective on weight in cycling<\/p>\n

According to the Swiss report, Reusser sees Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s diet from two angles: as a competitor, she admires the athletic achievement.<\/p>\n

The Movistar rider has a somewhat unique perspective for a professional cyclist\u2014she\u2019s 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\u201333 percent, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they are in danger, the Swiss star adds.<\/p>\n

Prolonged energy deficiency, however, carries consequences\u2014depression, injuries, digestive issues, anemia, and disrupted menstruation. Several riders have recently discussed\u2014including Sherbrooke\u2019s Magdeline Valli\u00e8res\u2014about the normalization of amenorrhea, when women become so lean they lose their period. The EF Education\u2013Oatly team says their nutritionist ensures that, through a proper diet, this doesn\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n

Reusser worries about the message sent to young riders after PFP\u2019s win. \u201cWhat does an 18-year-old take from that, or a 17-year-old without a nutritionist?\u201d she asks. She wants to continue balancing health and performance as she sets her sights on next year\u2019s Tour.<\/p>\n

PFP on her prep<\/p>\n

PFP addressed the weight loss, admitting that her Tour weight is not sustainable and the ultra-lean body was temporary. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the physical preparation, and it won\u2019t last forever,\u201d she said to cyclingnews.com<\/a> She emphasized that her decision was a personal one and not intended as a standard for others to follow.<\/p>\n

However, as the Cyclists Alliance points out\u2014how often do their male counterparts receive as much press about their weights?<\/p>\n

In a statement, the advocacy group said: \u201cWe 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\u2019s bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen said that by gaining weight, he actually got stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re young, all dream about being on the top of the Tour de France, you can\u2019t weigh too much. I was very skinny when I started cycling, maybe around 60 kilos, and I think my body couldn\u2019t build muscle very fast,\u201d Abrahamsen told Velo<\/a>. \u201cMaybe I have some fast muscle fibers, but when I was too skinny, I couldn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the 2025 Tour de France, the UNO-X rider took the biggest win of his career, taking Stage 11 in Toulouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marlen Reusser is the latest to weigh in on Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s Tour de France Femmes (TdFF) victory\u2014saying that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-67894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}