Demi Vollering jumps to Wout van Aert’s defence: “Under too much pressure, under too much focus, you cannot see it anymore”
Cycling
Wout van Aert’s difficult start to the 2025 season continued at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where the Belgian star was outsprinted by Neilson Powless in a dramatic finale. The EF Education-EasyPost rider stunned the Team Visma | Lease a Bike trio in the front group to take an unexpected victory, adding further scrutiny to Van Aert and his team.
Despite having numerical superiority in the breakaway, with three Visma riders up the road, the team failed to convert their advantage into a win, a result branded as an embarrassment by sections of the Belgian press. The loss not only sparked widespread criticism but also led to Van Aert himself admitting fault in a post-race interview.
The fallout from the race has been intense, with pundits and fans alike questioning Van Aert’s leadership and Visma’s tactical nous. However, amid the chorus of critique, a voice from the women’s peloton has stepped in to defend the under-fire Belgian.
Demi Vollering, one of the sport’s top riders, took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message in support of Van Aert. Initially surprised and amused by the team’s collapse, Vollering admitted her perception changed after hearing Van Aert’s own reflections.
“Yep, I was also laughing a bit when I first heard and then saw that Visma lost while being in the break with three…” she began, candidly. “But after watching it back once more and hearing Wout’s interview, I changed my mind.
“We should not forget that we are all human. We love a bit of drama. We love underdog stories. Wout is human as well. This guy has been through a lot! And everyone has had their opinion about him.
“We all judge too early, especially too easily. We are tempted to forget everything he has been through, and we probably don’t even know half of it because we cannot look inside his head or understand what it does to him mentally.”
Vollering’s emotional post highlighted the toll that public pressure and personal expectations can take on a rider, even one as accomplished as Van Aert. She acknowledged the vulnerability in Van Aert’s self-assessment and called for greater empathy.
“Hearing him say that he was egoistic and that it is not who he is was painful for me, because we forget so easily what stress, doubt, and all the mess thrown at him actually do to him.
“For me, it is completely understandable that he lost himself a bit. When people have so much to say about you, it is easy to start feeling lost. And it is probably something you do not even notice. It creeps in very quietly.”
She went on to describe how the pressure of constant scrutiny can lead even the best athletes to make uncharacteristic mistakes, not due to physical failure, but due to mental and emotional overload.
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“You train a bit harder, focus a bit more, and before you know it, you are lost in your rituals, running on autopilot, trying to prove everyone wrong, trying to get just a bit closer to your dreams.
“And before you know it, you make the wrong decisions and you cramp up. Maybe it was not the body. Maybe it was the mind that got too excited. But you did not stay true to yourself, so this win was not meant to be.
“It is a lesson. A wake up call for Visma and Wout, but not just for them. It is a lesson and a wake up call for all of us.”
Her message concluded with a reminder that elite athletes, no matter how successful or experienced, remain vulnerable and human. Vollering shared her own experience of being in similar mental spaces.
“He is human. We are all human. I think I have been in his situation. You think you are making the right decisions, but under too much pressure, under too much focus, you cannot see it anymore.
“And we will never realize it in that very moment…”
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