Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s debut with Ineos Grenadiers didn’t go as easily as anticipated because the multi-discipline World Champion wrestled with the Shimano groupset of her new Pinarello Crossista F after a sequence of mechanicals at Koppenbergcross in Belgium on Tuesday.
In her first cyclocross race after a two-year absence from the self-discipline, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot acknowledged that she had little expectations and that racing Koppenbergcross was a coaching alternative.
“Right this moment, the primary day of faculty. It will be brutal and painful for the physique, however I suppose I’ve to start out someplace,” Ferrand-Prévot stated forward of the race as she donned her model new Ineos Grenadiers package with the team-issued Shimano-equipped Pinarello Crossista F with customized French colors splashed throughout the highest of the rear triangle.
The race went past brutal and painful, nevertheless, and frustration mounted when Ferrand-Prévot’s chain appeared to have dropped off after which jammed on the opening lap, forcing her off her bike for at the least 40 seconds to attempt to repair it together with her fingers.
Video footage confirmed rider-after-rider passing Ferrand-Prévot, who was using a 2x Shimano Dura-Ace setup, as she struggled together with her shifters whereas concurrently attempting to remount her chain onto her entrance chainring.
“It was my first cyclocross race, so I wasn’t certain the way it was going to go,” stated Ferrand-Prévot. “I did not have a lot relaxation after the mountain bike season, however I felt good immediately. Sadly, I had some mechanical issues,” Ferrand-Prévot stated.
An extended option to the mechanic pit, Ferrand-Prévot managed to get the chain again on however had solely ridden her bike for a brief part of the circuit earlier than her chain jammed once more, and she or he dismounted and ran the remainder of the course to the mechanic pit.
Ineos Grenadiers’ pit crew was positioned on the far finish of the zone, so Ferrand-Prévot needed to run the size of the pits to get her spare bike from her mechanic.
Compelled off her bike once more mid-race after which once more on the final lap, Ferrand-Prévot tried to place the chain again on, nevertheless it fell off once more by way of the ultimate nook, in what she believes was a jammed derailleur that triggered her shifting to cease working.
She then lifted her bike over her shoulder and ran up the steep slopes of the cobbled Koppenberg to complete in twelfth at 6:15 behind the day’s winner Fem van Empel.
“I even thought for a second that I would not make it, as a result of my racing sneakers slipped on the Koppenberg. My chain stored blocking. The final time the derailleur jammed, and my gears stopped working. So I put my bike on the shoulder and walked,” Ferrand-Prévot stated.
The multi-discipline world champion signed a two-year contract with Ineos Grenadiers with a view towards her residence Olympic Video games in Paris in 2024. The 30-year-old, the first girl to signal for the British squad, will probably be a part of the crew’s rising off-road collective racing cyclocross, gravel and mountain bike.
Ferrand-Prévot has secured 10 particular person elite world titles throughout her profession, which embody street (2014), cyclocross (2015) 4 cross-country mountain bike titles (2015, 2019, 2020 and 2022), two XCM marathon titles in (2019 and 2022), one brief observe mountain bike title (2022), and a gravel world title (2022).
She was additionally a part of the France nationwide crew that gained world titles within the crew relays in 2014, 2015 and 2016, so as to add to her glowing profession.
After successful her most up-to-date world titles in XCO cross-country, XCM marathon, XCC brief observe and gravel, she is aiming for a fifth simultaneous world title on the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships on February 4 in Hoogerheide.
Ferrand-Prévot will subsequent race on the Cyclocross European Championships on November 5 in Namur, and stated that she was glad to have examined her new tools in Oudenaarde.
“It was good to select up the rhythm once more and take a look at the tools. Right this moment it did not work, so we nonetheless have some issues to do,” she stated.
Prepared for ‘cross! Take a look at @FERRANDPREVOT’s new @Pinarello_com Crossista F 😍🦄Pauline will make her CX return right this moment at #Koppenbergcross. You may tune in through Eurosport/GCN+ from 12.40pm (UK). pic.twitter.com/Ha7FOdelR4November 1, 2022
