“I was confident that the team could do something really good. But you also needed to have some luck and to put everything together.”

The cross-discipline rider was making her debut in the race, having rejoined the road circuit in 2025 after a decade’s absence.

Defending champion Lotte Kopecky of Belgium finished 12th, a place ahead of Great Britain’s Pfeiffer Georgi, while compatriot Zoe Backstedt was 15th.

Ferrand-Prevot’s victory came despite a fall 53km from the end of the race, which features 17 cobbled sectors totalling 29.2km. She had also suffered from illness in the build-up.

“I’ve been sick for the last two days. I didn’t even know if I was going to start,” she said. “In the end, I did the right thing by coming.

“I started thinking I was going to do my best to help [team-mate] Marianne Vos win. I can’t believe it.”

Ferrand-Prevot said she had started to “really enjoy” her comeback on the road, and that winning the Tour de France Femmes, which takes place from 26 July to 3 August, was her “main goal”.

“I really want to be 100% for Tour de France. And want to try to win Tour de France within three years,” she said.

“We are building something very strong together as a team.”

The men’s Paris-Roubaix race takes place on Sunday.