Frenchwoman Ferrand-Prévôt wins Paris-Roubaix women's race for the first time

ROUBAIX, France (AP) — Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt overcame sickness and a crash to win the Paris-Roubaix women's race for the first time on Saturday with a well-timed solo breakaway.

The 33-year-old from France added the prestigious and grueling Roubaix classic to her Olympic mountain bike gold medal at the Paris Games last year and the 2014 world road race title.

“I’m super happy but I don’t realise it yet,” she said. “It could be my best win ever.”

A smiling Ferrand-Prévôt raised both arms in the air as she crossed the finish line at the Roubaix velodrome.

She surprised herself with the victory, given the circumstances.

“I was sick the last couple of days, so I was not sure this morning if I was going to participate. It's good that finally I took the start," Ferrand-Prévôt said. "Winning here is just amazing. My boyfriend (Dylan van Baarle) won three years ago, so now I won. We will have two (trophies) at home."

The 148.5-kilometer (92-mile) race featured 29.2 km (18 miles) of cobbles and Ferrand-Prévôt was one of several riders to fall entering one of those stretches, with 54 kilometers to go.

But she was unharmed and quickly rejoined the peloton.

Although she was tactically supposed to be riding for Visma-Lease a Bike with teammate Marianne Vos, Ferrand-Prévôt sensed an opportunity and launched her attack with about 18 kilometers left.

“I had a gap and I tried to go until the end,” Ferrand-Prévôt said.

None of her rivals could catch her and she entered the velodrome on her own with the crowd cheering.

Ferrand-Prévôt finished 58 seconds clear of Italian Letizia Borghesi and 1:01 ahead of Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes in third. Vos was fourth and Alison Jackson of Canada fifth.

Ferrand-Prévôt became the first rider from France to win the women's race, which was first held in 2021.

“The first, but maybe the last one,” she said, smiling. “I just tried to survive in the cobblestone section.”

Defending champion Lotte Kopecky of Belgium __ the road race world champion __ was 2:04 behind in 12th spot.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Pauline Ferrand Prevot, of France, crosses the finish line to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Pauline Ferrand Prevot, of France, crosses the finish line to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Pauline Ferrand Prevot, of France, lifts the cobblestone trophy after winning the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Pauline Ferrand Prevot, of France, lifts the cobblestone trophy after winning the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.

The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants,

The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday. The plan was first reported by Bloomberg.

“Ensuring the American people have reliable and affordable electricity is one of President Trump’s top priorities, and this would deliver much-needed, long-term relief to the mid-Atlantic region," said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to be at the White House, a person familiar with Shapiro’s plans said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Shapiro, a Democrat, made his participation in Friday’s event contingent on including a provision to extend a limit on wholesale electricity price increases for the region’s consumers, the person said.

But the operator of the grid won't be there. “PJM was not invited. Therefore we would not attend,” said spokesperson Jeff Shields.

It was not immediately clear whether President Donald Trump would attend the event, which was not listed on his public schedule.

Trump and the governors are under pressure to insulate consumers and businesses alike from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. Meanwhile, more Americans are falling behind on their electricity bills.

Consumer advocates say ratepayers in the mid-Atlantic electricity grid — which encompasses all or parts of 13 states stretching from New Jersey to Illinois, as well as Washington, D.C. — are already paying billions of dollars in higher bills to underwrite the cost to supply power to data centers, some of them built, some not.

However, they also say that the billions of dollars that consumers are paying isn’t resulting in the construction of new power plants necessary to meet the rising demand.

Pivotal contests in November will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill for the data centers that underpin the explosion in demand for artificial intelligence. In parts of the country, data centers are coming online faster than power plants can be built and connected to the grid.

Electricity costs were a key issue in last year's elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, a data center hotspot, and in Georgia, where Democrats ousted two Republican incumbents for seats on the state’s utility regulatory commission. Voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City all cited economic concerns as the top issue, as Democrats and Republicans gird for a debate over affordability in the intensifying midterm battle to control Congress.

Gas and electric utilities sought or won rate increases of more that $34 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, consumer advocacy organization PowerLines reported. That was more than double the same period a year earlier.

Meta's Stanton Springs Data Center is seen Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Newton County, East of Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)