Visma-Lease a Bike will continue the 2025 La Vuelta Femenina without Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, after the French rider withdrew from the race ahead of stage 5. The team confirmed on Thursday morning that Ferrand-Prévot “does not feel fit enough to continue racing.”
The decision comes after a difficult stage 4 for the 32-year-old, who was dropped on the final climb and lost 14 seconds to the GC favourites. She finished the day in 32nd place, slipping to 25th overall, 58 seconds behind Femke Gerritse.
Ferrand-Prévot began the race with general classification ambitions but struggled to match the pace on the first climbing test. After finishing in the second group into Borja, her team DS Jos van Emden was direct in his post-stage comments:
“If you start the Vuelta with GC ambitions, you can’t get dropped on a climb like this. Unfortunately, that’s what happened. It’ll be difficult to play a role in the classification from here.”
The team confirmed her withdrawal in a short Instagram update on Thursday morning:
“Unfortunately, Pauline will not start in the fifth stage of La Vuelta Femenina. She does not feel fit enough to continue racing. Take good care of yourself, Pauline!”
Her exit leaves Marianne Vos as Visma-Lease a Bike’s main focus for the remaining stages. Vos sits third overall, 11 seconds behind the red jersey, and continues to lead the points classification.
