Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) had nobody to fear during the time trial finale of the Tour de France Femmes in Pau, having won stage 7 on top of the Tourmalet and taken the yellow jersey with minutes on her rivals Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team).
After taking second place in the time trial, and standing on the stage podium between her teammates Marlen Reusser and Lotte Kopecky, Vollering took to the top step of the overall podium. There she was again alongside Kopecky, who finished second overall and also took home the green jersey. This kind of dominance is almost impossible to imagine, even taking some time to sink in for Vollering.
“There was no time to realise it yet. After the Tourmalet stage, I arrived at the hotel at 11:30, got a really quick massage and shower and directly went to bed and tried to sleep. But I couldn’t really fall asleep," Vollering said in the Tour winner’s press conference.
"Maybe I realised it a little bit then. But you’re still so focused and busy with everything. I checked my phone a bit this morning, but I didn’t go through all the messages. I think I need the next two days, some relaxation and calm with the family, to realise what happened.”
Kopecky lightened up the press conference by asking who was Vollering’s favourite teammate which left the yellow jersey clad rider hiding her face in embarrassment.
It’s hard to choose when the team is as dominant as SD Worx have been during this Tour. They won four of the eight stages with four different riders, held the yellow jersey from start to finish – first with Kopecky and then Vollering – placed first and second in GC and won the green jersey. That list of results also came despite a 20-second time penalty for Vollering and the exclusion of DS Danny Stam.
“It’s amazing what we did this week. We had a lot of ups and some crazy downs, but mostly ups. I think we really showed how strong our team is and how motivated we are to take the best out of every day and really fight for stage wins. And we all make each other stronger,” Vollering said.
This strength made it possible for Vollering to drop Van Vleuten on the Col du Tourmalet and distance her by minutes, turning the tables on the world champion who had won the 2022 Tour de France Femmes with a similar ride through the Vosges.
“I was a little surprised yesterday. I knew that I was doing a really good climb, but during the effort, I was just focused on myself and on gaining as much time as possible," said Vollering.
"When Kasia and Annemiek crossed the line, I was surprised by the gap I had. But I was really happy about that because I didn’t want to make it too close. It meant that I could go into the time trial a bit more relaxed.”
Vollering won the yellow jersey with a 3:03 margin to Kopecky and Niewiadoma, who was just 21 hundredths of a second behind the Belgian SD Worx rider. The soon to retire Van Vleuten took fourth at her last Tour de France Femmes, 3:59 back from Vollering.
