(CNN) — Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday, becoming the first French winner of cycling’s biggest race since 1989.

Not since Bernard Hinault last won the men’s Tour de France in 1985 and Jeannie Longo won the women’s edition in 1989 has a French cyclist taken home the yellow jersey, a long, long wait for a nation whose summers have been entwined with the race for more than a century.

After retiring from a successful mountain bike career in which she became the Olympic champion in Paris, Ferrand-Prévot returned to the road this season with the explicit goal of winning the Tour de France Femmes within three years. In the end, she only needed one.

She sealed her win with victory in the final stage of the race, crossing the line resplendent in the yellow j

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