It is often difficult to balance expectation with reality. The buildup to the holiday, the party, the gig, is sometimes better than the actual thing itself; this is only natural, and it’s a struggle we all face. This is how I am currently approaching the Women’s WorldTour season, where the promise of a titanic battle between Demi Vollering, now at FDJ-Suez, and her old SD Worx-Protime squad with Lotte Kopecky and her former coach Anna van der Breggen is full of promise and excitement. That’s not even including the rest of the reshuffled peloton, with Marlen Reusser and Cat Ferguson at Movistar, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Kasia Niewiadoma at Canyon-SRAM, and Lidl-Trek’s all stars, plus more.
Before the action kicked off, there was a lot of hype, especially around Vollering’s fresh start. The Dutchwoman tried to play it down ahead of her season debut at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana last week, insisting that she wasn’t out for revenge. However, the hype over the season did seem justified, at first watch anyway; stage one saw Vollering ride Van der Breggen and Reusser off her wheel as she soloed to victory, winning her first race at the first opportunity for FDJ, and also sealing the whole thing overall.
