Pauline Ferrand-Prévot - LIVE: What's the lead in the Tour de France standings? Relationship, track record, salary...

The Frenchwoman has confirmed her status and is emerging as the favorite for the women's Tour de France before the final stage this Sunday.

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Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was born in Reims (Marne) on February 10, 1992. Coming from a family of cyclists, she began figure skating at a very young age but quickly asked to ride a bike at the age of 5, despite the reluctance of her mother who ran a cycling school. A revelation. At 12, "PFP" won the French junior-cadet championship and launched her career. She joined the various French teams in the youth categories. After a successful stint in the junior category, with four French championship titles and one world championship title on the road, as well as two world titles in mountain biking, the Frenchwoman turned professional in 2011, at 19.

Under contract with Rabobank, she qualified for the London Olympics but finished only 26th in the cross-country event. It was a tough two-year learning curve, despite two French time trial championship titles. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot reached a new level in 2014 and had an extraordinary season. Crowned champion in road, mountain bike, and cyclo-cross that year, she was the first cyclist in history, male or female, to simultaneously hold a world title in all three disciplines, while also winning French road and cross-country championships.

Her 2016 season, however, was marked by numerous injuries that prevented her from regaining her level. Despite her fitness, she was selected to represent France at the Olympic Games, both in mountain biking and on the road, but suffered another disappointment. She finished 26th in the road race and abandoned the mountain bike race before ending her season. "PFP" then had two difficult seasons in 2017 and 2018, despite three new French cross-country and mountain bike championship titles. At the end of 2018, she announced that she had undergone tests that revealed a blood pressure problem in her left leg and finally underwent surgery in January 2019. She decided to temporarily stop road racing to return to the highest level and was crowned mountain bike world champion in 2019 and 2020. Unlike in 2016, she will therefore only compete in the mountain bike event at the Olympic Games to maximize her chances of victory, after two disappointments in previous Olympics.

The Frenchwoman has also been frequently cursed for several years at the Olympic Games. In 2012 in London, she realized her dream by starting at the age of 20 in the road race (8th) and mountain bike (26th). In 2016, the event was completely missed due to personal problems, while in 2021 in Tokyo, she finished only 10th in a race that was again missed and marked by technical problems. But for Paris 2024, she changed her approach, putting herself in a bubble. "The goal was to be calm, to keep all my energy for training and recovery. There wasn't much room outside for what I love to do. These will be my last Games, I didn't want to regret anything. I cut myself off from everything and it was beneficial. I felt really good during this period. People said, "Oh, you look sad," but in fact, I had my best moments because I didn't have to answer to anyone." A beneficial approach since the Frenchwoman was crowned Olympic champion. After her victory, she will decide to hit the road again with her sights set on the Tour de France. A choice that's paying off for now, with a victory in Paris-Roubaix in 2025.

The Frenchwoman is in a relationship with Dylan Van Baarle, who began his professional career in 2011. A model teammate in the Sky and then Ineos teams of Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, he was recruited by Jonas Vingegaard's team at the end of the 2022 season, the best of his career. He notably finished second in the Tour of Flanders behind Matthieu van der Poel this season, and won his first Monument by soloing to Paris-Roubaix. Dutch road champion in 2023, time trial champion in 2018, he also has the 2021 edition of À travers la Flandre to his name.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's list of achievements is as long as your arm. On the road, she won a world championship in 2014 and two French championships, in 2014 and 2015, as well as three French time trial championship titles (2012, 2013, and 2014). In mountain biking, the Frenchwoman has three world championship titles (2014, 2019, and 2020) and was French champion six times between 2014 and 2019. Finally, in cyclo-cross, she was three times French champion (2014, 2015, and 2018) and once world champion (2014). In 2015, "PFP" became, at the age of 23, the first cyclist in history, male or female, to simultaneously hold a world title in all three disciplines. In terms of distinctions, she was elected French champion of champions by the newspaper L'Équipe three times, in 2014, 2015 and 2020.

A multiple French and world champion, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is far from earning the same salary as her male counterparts, whose salaries can run into the millions of euros. But the Frenchwoman has been a professional since 2012 and recently joined her partner Julien Absalon's team, Team Absolute Absalon BMC. This is fortunate, given that according to the Cyclists' Alliance, 25% of the women's peloton was not paid in 2020. Only 12% received more than 60,000 euros annually.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot shared the life of another French champion who was chasing his first Olympic title in Tokyo, triathlon specialist Vincent Luis (13th in the individual triathlon on Monday, July 26). The two athletes were together between 2012 and 2015 before separating a few months before the Rio Olympic Games. A separation that caused a lot of talk, especially after the two athletes' failures in Rio. "People didn't know it, but we had been on different paths for a while. Even though I had a couple of days when I wasn't feeling well like everyone else, I moved on to stay focused on my goal, which may have cost me my relationship," Vincent Luis explained to Le Parisien just before the 2016 Olympics, while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot made her new life and relationship with Julien Absalon official.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot comes from a large cycling family, as her father ran a bike shop in Reims, and several members of her family race at various levels. Her uncle, Ludovic Dubau, was the 1994 French cross-country champion. Aged 29, "PFP" has not had any children so far in her life.