Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will remain with Team Visma | Lease a Bike through 2028 after signing a one-year contract extension, a move that underlines how quickly her return to the road has reshaped the top end of the women’s peloton.
After joining the team on a multi-year deal for 2025, Ferrand-Prévot delivered an immediate, era-defining first season, capped by overall victory at the Tour de France Femmes. It was a result that carried both sporting weight and national resonance: a French rider winning the race and taking the yellow jersey in the sport’s biggest women’s stage event.
Ferrand-Prévot framed the extension in human terms as much as performance terms, saying she feels “happy and at home” within the structure, and that for the first time she feels “truly understood, both as a person and as a rider”. That sense of fit is not a throwaway line. At the very top level, where marginal gains and day-to-day consistency decide careers, feeling aligned with a team’s training culture and communication style can be as decisive as any equipment choice or performance metric.
Photo Credit: GettyFerrand-Prévot: time trial growth and LA 2028 are the next targets
The contract extension also comes with a clear technical focus for the coming year. Ferrand-Prévot said her priority is to develop her time trialling, describing it as a shared objective with the team.
That is a telling detail because it points to how Visma are thinking about her ceiling. Ferrand-Prévot already has the punch, the engine, and the race craft to win on the biggest terrain. Improving against the clock is the kind of targeted upgrade that can turn a Tour-winning rider into a more complete stage-race package, especially in editions where time gaps are shaped earlier and defended later.
Beyond the next season, Ferrand-Prévot also highlighted the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as a long-term goal. That adds another layer to the extension: it is not simply about repeating one year of form, but about building a runway that keeps the biggest objectives in sight across multiple seasons.
Photo Credit: GettyWhy Team Visma | Lease a Bike see this as a cornerstone move
From the team’s perspective, the language was as revealing as the contract length. Team manager Rutger Tijssen described Ferrand-Prévot as an “exceptional athlete”, but stressed what “truly sets her apart” is how she combines ambition with a constant drive to develop. That is the kind of internal compliment teams reserve for riders who lift standards around them, not just those who win races.
CEO Richard Plugge echoed the same theme, pointing to Ferrand-Prévot’s impact on the biggest stages. His summary made two points at once: first, that she belongs at the very top of women’s cycling, and second, that her presence strengthens the team’s belief in what is possible.
It is also an extension that makes sporting sense for Visma on a wider timeline. Keeping a Tour de France Femmes winner in-house through 2028 gives the organisation continuity in planning, and it allows them to build a supporting cast and performance programme around a known leader rather than resetting each winter.
Photo Credit: GettyContext: a rare multi-discipline champion who has translated it back to the road
Ferrand-Prévot’s story has always been broader than road results alone. She is one of the few riders in modern cycling who has won world titles across disciplines, and that breadth has shaped the way she races. The ability to handle technical stress, produce repeatable high efforts, and make sharp decisions under pressure tends to travel well between cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing and the most selective one-day road events.
The key point, though, is what has happened since she returned to road racing in 2025. Rather than needing years to rebuild a road-specific base, she stepped straight into contention, then turned that level into outright wins and the sport’s most coveted stage-race prize. That is why this extension matters: it is not a team clinging to potential, it is a team doubling down on proof.
What this extension changes heading into 2026 and beyond
The most immediate consequence is stability at the top. With Ferrand-Prévot committed through 2028, Team Visma | Lease a Bike can approach the next seasons with clarity: long-range performance planning, targeted development in time trials, and leadership continuity for the biggest races.
For the rest of the peloton, it sharpens the competitive picture. When a rider wins the Tour de France Femmes in her first season back on the road and then locks in her future, rivals know exactly what they are building against. The question now is not whether Ferrand-Prévot and Visma can replicate their peak, but how much more complete they can become if the time-trial project delivers as well as her first season did.
