Pauline Ferrand-Prévot continued her strong return to cyclo-cross finishing just off the podium in yesterday’s UCI World Cup in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. The fast-paced race was won by current world champion Sanne Cant, just three seconds ahead of Katie Compton.

After missing a season of cyclocross in 2016, Ferrand-Prévot is still forced to start near the back of the grid, taking several laps to get a clear run on the course.

“It took some time to get a good opportunity to pass all the riders. After three laps I was finally on my own and I could ride my own rhythm. My legs felt good yesterday. I wasn’t thinking about the position or what result I would get, I was just concentrating on going full gas the whole race.”

After making her way through the field, the Frenchwoman finished 16 seconds behind the winner. “Straight after the race I was a little disappointed, but more because of the frustration at not being able to do the whole race with a good tempo. I had to wait until around halfway before I could really go full gas. Now I can say I’m satisfied with fourth place. It’s a good result and I’m happy with my journey through the cyclocross season until now.”

Next on the race calendar for the CANYON//SRAM rider will be the Telenet Superprestige in Diegem on Saturday 30 December. “I’ll spend the next few days recovering and will look forward to see what my start position is and another race at full gas,” said Ferrand-Prévot.

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