Demi Vollering will line up at the second edition of the restored Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in the best form of her life and one of two overwhelming favourites to win the overall title at the eight-day race held from July 23-30.
There has been a near-frenzy over what many believe will be a highly-anticipated Van Vleuten versus Vollering battle for the yellow jersey. However, Vollering is adamant that such a narrow perspective leaves out other potential winners in the peloton.
"It's not only between me and Annemiek. I think this course is good for a lot of riders; Classics riders, for example, Elisa Longo Borghini or Silvia Persico, will all be very good on this course," Vollering said in an interview before the start in Clermont-Ferrand.
"I think there will be a battle between multiple riders. It's a hard course every day, and it's not only Annemiek and me, and I hope a lot more riders."
There is a short list of contenders who will also be in the race for yellow along with Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) and Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ); there is last year's podium finisher Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Juliet Labous (Team dsm-firmenich), Marta Cavalli and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep), Mavi Garcia (Liv Racing TeqFind) and Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB).
However, none have shown the same level of form that Vollering and Van Vleuten have demonstrated in their remarkable performances this season; Vollering during Classics and early-season stage races and Van Vleuten dominating the Giro Donne, making them the overwhelming favourites.
Closing the gap to Van Vleuten
At last year's Tour de France Femmes, Vollering was the closest rival to Van Vleuten on the ascents of Le Markstein and La Super Planche des Belles Filles. But on both climbs, she crossed the line and appeared bewildered by Van Vleuten's strength; after all, she had trained harder than she ever had before in preparation for the race and surpassed all her previous power numbers. It wasn't enough to contest Van Vleuten's rampage through the mountains.
Van Vleuten explained that by being older, she has been racing longer and progressively more each year and has more experience. She also suggested that, given more time for her body to adapt to higher training loads, Vollering would close the gap to Van Vleuten in the future.
Vollering has enjoyed an outstanding season and has appeared to have already shown a marked improvement this season. In the earlier season races, she won at Strade Bianche, the three Ardennes Classics, second overall at La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women and the Tour de Suisse, plus won Vuelta a Burgos and the Dutch Championships.
She has taken a new approach to the Tour de France Femmes this year and opted to skip the Giro Donne. Instead, she spent time training in France. She previewed several key stages, including the Tourmalet three times. She trained at altitude in Andorra and enjoyed a week at home in Switzerland to recover.
She said she feels fresh and ready to begin a tough week of racing where she and her team aim for stage wins and the overall title.
"It's not a lie that I made a big step this season. I feel more confident in the races and, technically, those kinds of things. I also recognize this growth myself. Still, it's a stage a race of eight days, and you need to have a big engine for this, and Annemiek has more experience and training experience than me," Vollering suggested.
"This whole season has gone well, and I have confidence that this stage race will also be good, and I will be in form. I still feel good after this big season that I already had, and mentally that I'm still fresh and still fighting to win. We will find out at the end of the Tour de France."
Vollering's teammates Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes have also noticed a change in Vollering compared to the previous season.
More than an increased physical strength, both teammates have noted growth areas in her confidence, mental strength, technique, and ability to read a race. They say she is also closing the gap with Van Vleuten in these areas.
"Yes, but I believe these came because I am stronger, so then I also have more space in your head during the race to make good decisions about what to do in the race," Vollering said.
"Last year, I was so on the limit in the race that I could not think anymore. This year, it is all coming more naturally. I make better decisions, see the race situations, recognize the race situations, and know what to do.
"These things go together hand-in-hand [with being stronger]. It is a big step I made, but I'm also physically stronger, which is why I'm also mentally and technically better."
Time trial nerves
Last year's Tour de France Femmes route included almost every type of terrain for nearly every rider, but if there's one thing the riders and teams felt was missing at the race, it was a time trial.
The peloton will race a 22km time trial that features a mid-route ascent and a slight rise to the finish line. Vollering said time trials are relatively new to her and revealed that she feels somewhat apprehensive about its position directly following the decisive Col d'Aspin-Col du Tourmalet and as the finale stage 8 in Pau.
"The time trial could be very important. It's difficult to say this because it all depends on how it goes the day before but the time trial can be very tricky," said Vollering.
Vollering said she has been training on her time trail bike to find the fastest position. She recently finished second behind teammate Marlen Reusser in the stage 2 time trial at the Tour de Suisse. She was also second behind Riejanne Markus and ahead of third-placed Van Vleuten at the Dutch Championships.
If the gaps in the general classification are still close enough after the previous day's race up the Tourmalet, the stage 8 time trial will be the final test that could decide the overall champion of the Tour de France Femmes.
"I hope the time trial doesn't change [the Tour de France Femmes] so much for me. It's something that makes me nervous. It's pretty new for me, and I don't know exactly how it will go. You want to do a good time trial on the last day, and it's important that you are not losing time there. It's an important stage," Vollering said.
Asked if she would accept anything less than the overall victory, Vollering expressed that she is more relaxed in her approach and outlook toward her second attempt at winning the Tour de France Femmes.
"For sure, I want the yellow jersey. I hope that, for the Tour de France, I can at least wear the yellow jersey at some point in the eight days," she said.
"It would be cool to take it home, of course, but I don't want to be too focused on winning. I want to ride a nice race, enjoy it with my team, what I've done already this season, and this will be the result."
