With Annemiek van Vleuten retiring at the end of 2023, the spotlight is on defending Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering more than ever. At the top of her game with few legitimate challengers, the 27-year-old must now figure out how to derive motivation in the absence of their rivalry.
"I know that a rivalry is always good because you always strive to be the best you always want to be, to beat the best. That's a clear goal. But I also know ... in the coming season, I will probably be the rider who most girls want to beat. So this is again, something different. And I need to see how this feels in the races and how that goes," she says.
