Pauline Ferrand-Prévot 's triumphant victory at the Tour de France Femmes sparked a veritable 'PFPmania' in France, with millions of viewers glued to their TVs to follow her conquest of the yellow jersey.

Sports daily L'Équipe coined the term to describe the frenzy surrounding Ferrand-Prévot, who dominated the final weekend in the Alps to give France its first Tour victory in nearly 40 years.

Her feat attracted an extraordinary television audience: 4.4 million average viewers on France 2 for the final stage, peaking at 7.7 million at the finish. These numbers even surpassed those of this year's women's Roland Garros final (3.15 million) and came close to matching the audience share of the final stage of the men's Tour (41.2% versus 42.1%).

"I've been in women's cycling since 2007 and we never would have hoped for something like this," commented Stephen Delcourt, manager of the FDJ-Suez team.

Ferrand-Prévot's fan club has been inundated with requests: "It's crazy, we've been handling between 80 and 100 emails a day since the end of the Tour. There are also more imaginative requests, like having lunch with Pauline. People absolutely want to meet her, much more than in the past," revealed president Christophe Duquesne.

PFP's Tour success represents the tip of the iceberg of a golden moment for French women's cycling, with three other riders finishing in the top 10 of the general classification. Her victory, which adds to her victory at Paris-Roubaix this year, is inspiring a new generation of young cyclists and has cemented Ferrand-Prévot's place in French sporting history.