Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to race Koppenbergcross

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will race the Koppenbergcross next month, the organizers have confirmed.

The former cyclocross world champion confirmed earlier this month that she would return to the discipline this winter after missing the last two seasons.

The Koppenbergcross will be her return race on November 1, and she will also ride the European Championships on November 5. Following that, she is expected to take a break before racing again in the buildup to the world championships at the beginning of February.

Ferrand-Prévot won the cyclocross world title in 2015 as part of a historic run that saw her also claim the rainbow jersey in mountain bike and road over the course of a year. She has not raced cyclocross since January 2020 after pulling out of the DVV Trofee Brussels.

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She had already missed the 2018-19 season and only rode a limited calendar in the ’19-20 season as she had to take time out to have surgery to treat an iliac artery endofibrosis. Though she has been injury free in recent seasons, she did not return to cyclocross as her mountain bike sponsor, BMC, did not have a cyclocross bike model.

Ferrand-Prévot made history recently with four world title in a matter of weeks, three in mountain bike, and the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships at the start of this month.

Her return to cyclocross comes after she signed a two-year deal with Ineos Grenadiers, making her the team’s first female rider. She is using the discipline as part of her preparation for the Olympics in 2024, where she is targeting a medal in the mountain bike event.