Already a silver medallist in the cross country World Championships, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot proved that he is also an excellent road race when she became a surprise winner of the Worlds road race. Despite her new status as the best road racer, she will continue to focus on both disciplines in the future.

Going into the Worlds road race, most expected the rainbow jersey to stay with the Rabo Liv team. Three-time world champion Marianne Vos was the overwhelming favourite to make it three in a row and went into the race as the woman to beat.

In 2015, the rainbow jersey will still be within the ranks of the Dutch team but Vos’ winning streak has been broken. Instead, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot came back from a crash in the team time trial to take a surprise victory in Ponferrada.

“I crashed with my teammates in the TTT so it was a hard week,” she said at the post-race press conference. “I didn’t feel very good. “

At one point, Ferrand-Prevot seemed to be out of the running when Vos, Elisa Longo Borghini, Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Johansson got clear on the final climb. However, strong work by the German team brought it back together for a sprint where the Frenchwoman emerged as the fastest.

“Today I didn’t expect to win so it is great for me,” she said. “I was dropped on the last climbs and I thought that I had missed the podium. The four girls in the front almost stopped. I was lucky that the German team rode for me. I had a really good lead-out from them. I just had to stay in Marianne’s wheel and started my sprint. First I thought it was impossible. Now I have just realized that I have won.

“Already in Plouay [a World Cup race where she finished third] I was on Marianne’s wheel so I knew it was a good wheel for the sprint. We came back with 1k to go so I thought that I had to stay on Marianne’s wheel. The wind came from the left so I knew I had to go on the right. In the sprint, I didn’t look back. I didn’t expect to win a sprint at the Worlds.

“I think it was a good circuit. We watched yesterday’s race this morning. You have to wait until the last moment to make an effort. If I could, I wanted to attack on the last climb. I couldn’t but I tried to follow. It was also a quite technical circuit so you always had to stay in a good position.”

Vos has been the benchmark for women’s cycling since she first won the World Championships in 2006. Being a teammate of the fabulous Dutchwoman, Ferrand-Prevot is grateful to have learned a lot from the best rider in the world.

“Everybody wants to beat Marianne so it is very hard for her,” she said. “I have learned a lot from Marianne in the last three years so this is also a victory for her. I think she is happy for me. I also want to thank my Rabo Liv teammates because I have learned a lot. This is also a victory for my team.”

Until now, Ferrand-Prevot has achieved her best result on the mountainbike where she finished second at last year’s Worlds. This year, however, she has stepped up her road racing level and has now entered the world elite. Nonetheless, she will continue to have a dual focus.

“I like to do both,” she said. “I don’t want to choose. I have done both since I was six years old. This year I really found a good balance between MTB and road and I want to continue doing both.

“This year I really wanted to try to do both and try to be good in both MTN and on the road. It’s also important for the Olympics and to show the federation that I can do both. I mainly do cyclo-cross to prepare for the road. I think it’s possible to do both but I don’t want to try BMX or something else.”