Pauline Ferrand Prevot lifted up by her teammates after winning the 2014 World Championships(Image credit: Getty Images)
Audrey Cordon beat Aude Biannic and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to win the women's time trial at the French Championships.(Image credit: Jean-François Quénet)
Audrey Cordon joins Wiggle Honda for 2015(Image credit: Bart Hazen)
Emma Johansson, Lizzie Armitstead and Pauline Ferrand Prevot - three champions.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
World Champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Rabo-Liv)(Image credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl)
Audrey Cordon (France)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
France head into today's women's road race at the World Championships in Richmond with defending champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot and a number of other options, according to her teammate Audrey Cordon, who believes that the team's strength in depth will be critical.
"I'm in good shape for Sunday's road race and that gives me confidence and that gives me good legs to help Pauline and the other girls as much as I can. If I have a chance I will take it too," the Wiggle Honda rider told Cyclingnews.
"We have the defending champion, the jersey on our shoulders and we don't want to lose it. It will be a really hard race but we'll have the chance to have seven of us at the start so that will be an advantage.”
France have already tasted success in these World Championships with a medal in the men's elite time trial and victory in the U23 men's road race. In the latter they showed their dexterity and fluidity in tactics and Cordon believes that similar traits could be exploited with Ferrand Prevot a marked card.
"We have cards to play but we also have really good sprinters and I'm someone who also likes these really Classic-style races. It should be really interesting," she claimed.
Last year Cordon worked for Ferrand Prevot and claimed 16th spot, France's second best finisher on the day. Of course, all that matters is who wins, and Cordon and the French collective will be looking to honour the defence of their rainbow jersey. Ferrand Prevot is the protected leader – understandably so given both her stature and form – but Cordon adds that she too could have her own opportunity.
"It was a really big honour for me to help last year in chasing the win but you always want to have a chance at a personal result. If I can be better than 16th and have my chance to do a podium I will take. Of course we'll protect Pauline for the end but will be marked so maybe we can play on that with the other girls."
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
