7 conclusions from Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift 🇫🇷
Analysing performances from Visma, SD Worx, EF Education-Oatly, Canyon-SRAM and Lidl-Trek
Hi Subscribers,
Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift never disappoints.
A stunning fifth edition of the race saw the peloton enjoy blue skies, sunshine, and the occasional presence of crosswinds as the riders battled 17 pavé sectors on their way to the Roubaix velodrome. As always, it was highly attritional, with a stunning win from one of the very best riders in the world.
Here are seven conclusions from the women’s race as we pull apart the key performances. The first two are free, while the remaining five are for paid subscribers.
Don’t forget though, there’s a 20% sale on annual subscriptions right now. To take advantage of this, click on the link below. The sale runs out tomorrow!
Ferrand-Prévot crowns comeback trail 🐝
It was her first attempt at the race – one that didn’t exist on the women’s calendar when she last raced on the road – and in her own words, she wasn’t even meant to be riding the cobbled Monuments. And yet, in the space of six days, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has managed to come second at the Tour of Flanders and go one better at Paris-Roubaix, launching a perfectly timed attack 25 kilometres from the finish and never looking back. Along with a third-place finish at Strade Bianche, it caps a remarkable comeback for the former road world champion.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has been a firebrand during this Spring Classics season – instigating moves, animating races, crashing – even today – and getting back up again; the French rider has shown her resilience, tenacity and silky-smooth bike-handling skills to confirm that not only is she absolutely BACK, but that off-road riders really do enjoy an advantage on the cobbles.
She maintains that her number one goal is the Tour de France, but becomes the first French woman to win Paris-Roubaix, despite apparently being sick beforehand and using the race as ‘training’ for the anticipated chaos of the Bretagne stages of this summer’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Not a bad day out for the Olympic mountain-biking champion.
It was the perfect result for Visma-Lease A Bike, who insisted prior to the race that they were all-in for Marianne Vos. And it seemed to play out that way, with Vos marking all of Lotte Kopecky’s attacks, keeping the Belgian rider within her sights at a number of decisive moments, but she turned out to be the perfect foil for Ferrand-Prevot to take her own chance. A tactical masterclass from the two great multi-disciplinarians.
Read more: Paris-Roubaix 2025 Race Preview 🇫🇷 🚴♂️
Break-out Borghesi leads strong performance from EF 🇮🇹
It’s a race they are familiar with winning following Alison Jackson’s incredible breakaway victory in 2023, and EF Education-Oatly showed they weren’t content to make up the numbers today in a lead group that contained some serious hitters.
Not only were they a part of the lead group, but they animated the race, with both Letizia Borghesi and Alison Jackson attacking, and though those moves were neutralised, they both had enough left in the tank to stick with the final selection all the way to the velodrome.
From there, Borghesi launched an audacious move to find a gap and thwart the sprint for second place, turning it into a sprint for third as she wrapped up the second spot on the podium in what is undoubtedly the stand-out performance of her career so far.
Lidl-Trek brave but missing an edge 🇺🇸
 | A guest post by
|