Pauline Ferrand Prévot Takes Fourth Rainbow Jersey in 2022

Oct 8, 2022 at 8:52
by Ed Spratt  

It may be the off season for World Cup racing but that isn't stopping Pauline Ferrand Prévot from continuing to stack up the World Champ titles.

The Gravel World Championships took place for the first time this weekend with racing in Italy dominated by XC racers with a top three filled with World Cup riders. Pauline topped the podium to secure her fourth World title this year and the 10th of her career. Pauline is the first person to ever hold the XC, XCC, XC Marathon and Gravel titles at the same time.

The win wasn't easy for the French rider with a very close sprint finish to the line against Sina Frei. After being dropped in the final 500 meters Chiara Teocci completed the top three with Jade Treffeisen in fourth and Barbara Guarischi taking fifth.



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70 Comments

  • 111 0
 I just buy those jerseys online like a normal person. Congrats Pauline, well-earned!
  • 53 15
 "Pauline is the first person to ever hold the XC, XCC, XC Marathon and Gravel titles at the same time." Amazing but c'mon PB, this was the first time a Gravel world champs was held. Not exactly surprising no-one did this previously.
  • 61 0
 Well I'm not sure anyone has been world champ in XC, XCC and XC marathon the same year either. So basically the gravel title is just for the lols haha
  • 36 31
 And you start to wonder if these sports are all more or less the same..
  • 5 21
flag warmerdamj (Oct 8, 2022 at 16:30) (Below Threshold)
 I didn't want to be the one to say it. Great accomplishment but yeah, it's never been available before.
  • 24 0
 @jeffrocx: no need to wonder, I’ve found out that I’m bad at all of them over the years.
  • 5 4
 @mi-bike: L'art d'enculer les mouches juste pour enculer les mouches.
  • 6 3
 @danstonQ: I've always wanted to know how to put socks on a millipede in French. Thanks for the free language lesson.
  • 1 0
 @danstonQ: Les mouches se promènent les pattes écartées Big Grin
  • 40 3
 UCI proving to be dinosaurs again and using a shorter course for women
  • 1 28
flag KeithShred (Oct 9, 2022 at 20:40) (Below Threshold)
 Shut up
  • 36 2
 Congrats to Pauline, dumped her man and now she’s unstoppable.
  • 42 0
 She only swipes right on Rainbow Jerseys.
  • 8 3
 @bikewriter: he has 5 of those...
  • 2 0
 She did?
  • 10 0
 @camm67: shoot your shot brah
  • 3 0
 @ryd-or-die: Lol I know right?!! With my old-broke-ass mfn self...
  • 26 0
 CX world champion title in January next?
  • 2 0
 I hope she tries it and gives Vos, Brand and Van Empel a run for their money.
  • 6 0
 "Short Track Gravel" World Champion Smile
  • 1 0
 I hope so!
  • 20 0
 GOAT stuff, congrats PFP
  • 13 3
 I’d really like to see her compete in Unbound. Which would be an actual gravel race. This race was more like BWR, but shorter, less challenging and much less climbing. She would probably dominate no matter what, but gravel racing is also about the terrain, elements, equipment and timing. Plus they should be able to race the same course length as the men. But props to her, you can only race the race they put in front of you. She’s raced one gravel race in her life and is World Champion.
  • 7 0
 I disagree with most of your post but also Unbound is not uniquely hard. And not harder than plenty of other shorter gravel races with more climbing. It is practically flat compared to plenty of them. And pretty sure Pauline knows all about terrain, elements, equipment, and timing.
  • 7 0
 It wasn't the hardest race or the deepest field but Sofia Gomez Villafane, the winner of Unbound Gravel, came in 12th.
  • 8 2
 @billreilly: to me that just highlights how this event was really not inline with what most of the big gravel races are.
  • 10 0
 @Bree33: This Veneto gravel worlds course was 140km with 700m climbing, plenty of pavement, and smooth gravel. Unbound is 331km with 2956m of climbing, almost zero pavement, and very rough gravel. These two races could not be more different...
  • 13 2
 Really enjoying the comments from Americans on here and CT saying that if only the course was longer or more technical then those pesky European mountain bikers on actual gravel bikes wouldn't have won.
  • 6 0
 @dougfs: idk if anyone cares who won (I certainly don’t) but it would have been cool to see the world championship course actually resemble the races that have grown the gravel scene. Much the same we would comment if the dh world champs took place on a course that was actually faster on a trail bike.
  • 6 0
 @Austink: I get that sentiment. Despite being tame compared to some races, the Worlds has made gravel look pretty good though: just getting out and riding whatever tracks, paths, and farm roads are near you. If that gets more people on bike then it's a big thumbs up.

It seems like based on what Geoff Kabush is saying on Twitter that the UCI wanted to bring the World Champs to the U.S for the first three years, but nobody was interested in running it. Not cheap running a World Champs, namely because of the large payments to the UCI.
  • 6 0
 @dougfs: yeah the US gravel scene generally wants nothing to do with the UCI. Which is fair, but then it's kinda lame for the US gravel scene to turn around and go "no you're not doing it right" when they refused to get involved.

Sure it's not Unbound but it's not like there aren't major US gravel races on fairly tame courses (SBT GRVL for example). Honestly the lamest and most tiresome part of the whole US gravel scene is the constant hand wringing about doing gravel the "right" way. It's super cringey when the US scene goes around telling everyone they're doing it wrong. I thought half the "spirit of gravel" was letting event organizers set their own rules.

Anyway, props to PFP.
  • 1 7
flag KeithShred (Oct 9, 2022 at 20:41) (Below Threshold)
 You mean Dirty Kanza?
  • 1 0
 @Austink: What are the most big gravel races? If Unbound was started in 2006 and only have ~4000 riders it surly can’t be one of those? We have gravel races with more history and more riders in small countries like Norway and Sweden.
  • 7 4
 @bkm303: US gravel scene is doped to the tits, so no wonder they dont want to have UCI coming by..

true american "spirit of gravel" - tell your every competitor that it is not a race, nothing's at stake, they should ride it on a retro steel bike and in baggy shorts, while themselves showing up well EPOd, on top of the line bikes with aero bars and support team...

not the first time americans are embracing rules for thee not for me approach, haha
  • 3 0
 @magnusc: I’m talking precisely about events like unbound. I’m sure those more historic races are rad, but those are not the marquee events. Look at what gets media coverage, what events companies use to create ad campaigns around. That isn’t saying they are “better”, just that is what is associated with a modern gravel race.

Nobody would suggest the next dh world champs be held on the repack hill. That is possibly the oldest dh race/track, but it isn’t at all what represents the sport currently.

There isn’t one definition of a gravel race, but if what the uci presents is different from what most people envision, they missed the mark.
  • 2 0
 @dhfox322: my point was not that the veneto course was hard but that unbound is hardly the standard by which gravel should be judged. It has low elevation gain for the mileage compared to your average east or west coast gravel race. And yes, I've done it. We could debate all day what course the world championship should be on but it's moot.
  • 2 0
 @GZMS: 100%
  • 1 0
 @magnusc: regarding the size, perhaps just a US thing but races have to limit field size for permitting and logistics (lodging mostly). unbound does a lottery. It is massively popular although I hate the sentiment that it is the standard by which others should be judged since it is very much a Midwest course and drastically different from courses elsewhere in the country - low elevation gain for the distance and tons of drafting tactics at play. Easy climbs.
  • 12 0
 LOL. She's gonna get paaaid in that next contract. If she goes for CX world title again... just nutso.
  • 13 2
 Congratulations,I guess life is a joke ,but sometimes a good one ,once more ,congratulations and carry on :-)))
  • 9 1
 (For those who don't get it, she has "Life is a joke" tattooed on the back of her neck).
  • 11 0
 No ragrets
  • 11 0
 Imagine if she knew how to ride a bike (sar)
Congrats
  • 7 0
 Some competitors will request more drops without wooden ramp on the future courses to try to slow her haha
  • 1 1
 She's never gonna be as good a jolanda!! Kidding. I love watching them both.
  • 11 0
 The comeback is real
  • 8 0
 Beast!
  • 5 0
 She did it ! Congrats Pauline
  • 1 0
 She has won the road, cross, xc-mtb, xc-mtb marathon and now gravel world championships. If a male rider accomplished all this, I'm thinking he would be financially set for life - what makes me think her compensation is lower? My guess is that even some women roadies might be better compensated than PFP (but that is only a guess).
  • 2 2
 Gravel title was awarded after a sprint on tarmac was it a short course Gravel WC. the riders looked pretty clean coming to the finish line: no dirt, no grime, no signs of wear and tear. Congratulations to the most versatile rider out there. PFP may not be the best at riding drops but she knows how to win any race. She will have one last chance to get an olympic medal at home in 2024.
  • 2 2
 Was thinking the same thing. That's so lame the finish line is a road race. But PFP is such a beast.
  • 6 3
 Efficient, beautiful.. And free of brand of bike and heart ?
  • 2 1
 Has anyone watched the race? Gravel? Are you kidding? Make the Dirty Kanza a gravel WC for the sake of sanity, but this was far from anything gravel is all about.
  • 1 0
 This was "UCI gravel" - undertaken in Italy to get a turnout of world tour pro's at the end of season for one last fling. The course was not "gravel as we know it". I expect next year the course will be much the same if run in Europe (though I think it will be in Scotland with the rest of the World Champs races) for the same reasons, but probably with less world tour pros involved. (I certainly hope the blather mouth commentator the UCI had on the live YouTube feed has a sore throat and can't commentate....)
  • 1 0
 @handynzl: 2023 World Champs is also in Italy, by the same organiser.

Sadly the inception of the Gravel World Champs came too late to have it included in the Scotland multi-World Champs. Shame, we would have been proud to see it at Aberfoyle (Dukes Weekender area) or the Tweed Valley. Unlikely there would have been complaints about the lack of roughness, climbing or technicality.
  • 3 0
 Good for her
  • 1 0
 Wow, so impressive. I am curious how many times someone held the original 3x WC in a season?
  • 6 6
 There is a Gravel world championship? Is there also a strider world championship? What a about snow bike world championship?
  • 4 3
 On a related note pauline has blamed evie richards for not winning road world champs.
  • 3 0
 GOAT
  • 9 6
 Fuck the UCI
  • 2 0
 And she took the Roc D azur 2022 in the rain.
  • 1 0
 Anyone know why she didn't compete in road worlds ?
  • 7 0
 She's not interested in riding on the road anymore.....and hasn't been for a few years.
  • 2 0
 Great job Pauline!
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