Demi Vollering (SD Worx) was both confused and disappointed to find out that she finished second on stage 4 at the Tour de France Femmes after she thought she had won on the steep uphill climb into Rodez.
Shortly after crossing the line and raising her arms in a somewhat hesitant victory salute, officials informed her that breakaway rider Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) had already won the race over a minute earlier.
"I didn't know that I hadn't won. I had no idea [that Kastelijn had won], and then, I wondered what actually happened. Then I thought, let's do it [raise her arms in victory] for the photo, but it's too bad I didn't win," Vollering said at the finish line.
"I'm disappointed because in the Tour de France, you want to win a stage and I haven't done that yet. The gap of eight seconds with Annemiek? Well, I was hoping for more, so I'm not that satisfied."
A battle for the general classification played out behind a day-long breakaway of 14 riders that gained more than 10 minutes during the 177km race between Cahors and Rodez, the longest race of this Tour de France Femmes and in the Women's WorldTour calendar.
"It was a strange and hard day, and you could feel it in the finish," Vollering said. "You could see that it was difficult for us because we don't have so many long races, and then it's different for every rider. And some riders you don't know them, you see them [at some races], and then you forget. On such a long day as today, it was a different race because no one could make up the difference. It was exhausting today."
As SD Worx worked to slash the gap to the breakaway, yellow jersey Lotte Kopecky went out on her own in pursuit of them in an attempt to save her overall lead but also to get ahead of the series of final ascents so that she could then help Vollering in Rodez.
"Lotte was very strong today. She rode today also, and all my other teammates were working today and rode the whole day in front. Lorena [Wiebes], Elena [Cecchini] and Mischa [Bredewold], and we had Christine [Majerus] in the break, Marlen [Reusser] was around me the whole day. It was a privilege to have the team with me today," Vollering said.
However, Kastelijn had surged out of the breakaway and quickly gained 50 seconds on her former breakaway companions.
Vollering made her first attack of this Tour de France Femmes over the penultimate Côte de Moyrazes, and defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten struggled to regain contact over the top in what was a telling moment in the early stages of the eight-day race.
A selection of GC riders emerged, but all eyes were on the two Dutch rivals, who came into the race as the overwhelming favourites in the hunt for yellow. Van Vleuten also attacked over the Côte de Lavernhe but then struggled to stay with Vollering on the steep 13% climb to the finish line.
As the pair sprinted up the ascent, they caught and passed the remnants of the early breakaway, but Vollering said she had no idea that one rider, Kastelijn, hadn't been caught and had already won the stage by the time she crossed the line in second place.
"I wanted to win the Tour stage. I was close today, but it was not enough, so I'm disappointed. I had no clue what was happening in front of me, and in the end, I caught up to Anouska Koster [Uno-X] I couldn't see anyone else in front of me, so I thought that I had everyone, but I didn't know Yara was still in front," Vollering explained.
"I crossed the line, but I was not sure if someone from this group was still out, so I thought I would celebrate anyway; we have at least the pictures. If I didn't win, then we can always delete them, so let's delete them."
Vollering gained a valuable eight seconds on Annemiek van Vleuten, but that didn't quell her disappointment in losing the stage. "Of course, it's nice [to gain some seconds], but I had hoped for more today," she said. "I hoped I could do a bit more in the end on the last climb, but I couldn't make a difference anymore after such a long race."
