Adam Blythe blasts Demi Vollering's questionable tactics at the World Championships: "Demi should be wiser about that and she's not"
Cycling
No rainbow jersey. Not even a medal from women's a road race. The Dutch star-filled team once again deployed tactics that were, in the best scenario, questionable. With just shy of 10km to go, Demi Vollering attacked on a steep climb, bringing rivals including later winner Kopecky with her but dropping team-mates Riejanne Markus and Marianne Vos, who could not chase back on to fight for victory.
Adam Blythe, former professional and currently analyst for Eurosport was in a disbelief seeing Vollering's tactics. "The way she rode today was - I want to be respectful - stupid. But I think in a way that she knew what she was capable of, but the way that she did it, and the way that her team-mates were around her, was ridiculous."
"She had Marianne Vos in that group. Vos was at the back of that group. There were points when Demi was driving at the front. For me that's acceptable because Vos is still within that group, but times when you start to go uphill and you start to drive it, that for me then is when you've got one of the quickest women in the world [and with] Kopecky not in that group, Demi should be wise to that and she's not."
Instead, Vollering continued to push both uphill and downhill, preventing her teammates in second group from coming back to the front of the race. "She never once at any time looks round and stops. She's doing long pulls on the front without looking around, seeing who's there and going back at it."
"With 16km to go, when you’ve got Vos there who’s the fastest finisher within that group, even if Kopecky had come back in, I would have been confident Marianne Vos would have won that sprint," believes Blythe's colleague and fellow pundit Dani Rowe. "She’s dropping her, I just don’t understand it, I really don’t."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Blah blah blah!frieders311-11-2026
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
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