'I think it's over' – Pauline Ferrand-Prévot concedes yellow jersey bid at Tour de France Femmes

The defending champion is now five minutes adrift with four stages left

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the defending champion, has conceded her yellow jersey bid in the Tour de France Femmes after a fifth stage to Belleville-en-Beaujolais. Dropped on the penultimate climb with around 30km remaining, Ferrand-Prévot lost more than two and a half minutes to her general classification (GC) rivals Marlen Reusser, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, and stage winner Demi Vollering.

This, coupled with the additional two minutes she lost in the time trial, means she now sits five minutes behind Reusser in the yellow jersey. Ferrand-Prévot admitted that the GC is over for her, stating she hasn't seen the gaps yet but believes it's over. She expressed professionalism in maintaining grace and composure despite the setback, congratulating her team members and fans.

The gap to Reusser, the race leader, is now five minutes, which is considered nearly impossible to close. Ferrand-Prévot's sports director, Rutger Thijssen, remains optimistic that anything can happen in the next few days, but the defending champion is now 17th overall with four stages remaining.

Written by urgent.news from Cycling Weekly's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.