Reigning champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot pulls out of Tour de France Femmes ahead of stage 8

Frenchwoman's difficult defence of the yellow jersey ends after finishing over ten minutes down on Ventoux

Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has withdrawn from the 2026 Tour de France Femmes due to illness, ahead of the eighth stage that begins in Sisteron and concludes in Nice. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider lost 10 minutes and 44 seconds to the race winner, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), finishing in 18th place on stage seven's challenging Mont Ventoux climb.

At the time of her decision to skip the upcoming stage, Ferrand-Prévot was placed 14th in the General Classification, trailing the leader by 14 minutes and 37 seconds. The French cyclist explained via the team's social media that she was not feeling well on the morning of the stage and, after consulting with medical staff, decided not to begin the race.

"I did my best and I pushed as hard as I could. Now there's nothing I can do," Ferrand-Prévot stated. The 34-year-old had been struggling throughout the week, notably losing over two minutes to winner Marlen Reusser (Movistar) in stage four's time trial. Despite her poor showing, Ferrand-Prévot expressed gratitude for the experience and expressed relief that the day was over.

The Frenchwoman had previously won the Tour de France Femmes in 2025 after an impressive comeback following several years focused on mountain biking. However, she has yet to secure a victory this season, and her withdrawal leaves her race objectives unfulfilled.

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.