Demi Vollering under fire! Former Tour de France Femmes winner faces scrutiny ahead of important 2025: “Vollering is a typical hard rider, but not a cyclist”
Cycling
Demi Vollering, one of the most successful female cyclists of recent years, continues to make headlines both on and off the bike. The 28-year-old Dutch star, who won the Tour de France Femmes in 2023 and followed it up with a Vuelta victory in 2024, has recently come under scrutiny from prominent cycling commentators on Eurosport's Kop over Kop.
Bobbie Traksel, a regular voice on the show, offered a critical take on Vollering’s tactical IQ, "Vollering is a typical hard rider, but not a cyclist. That may sound strange, because in my opinion she is the best cyclist in the world. But when it comes to the tactical part, the real cycling starts. It is not just riding very fast. She really has problems with the game. Especially if it is not guided by earphones, then it is simply over," said Traksel.
This perspective was echoed by fellow commentator Jan Hermsen, who questioned Vollering’s team dynamic and interpersonal skills.
"She wouldn't be my favourite teammate. When I sometimes see interviews of her. Athletes are assholes, but cycling has increasingly become a team sport. Then you also have to be able to function in a team," Hermsen stated.
Traksel also pointed out how Vollering's dominance can sometimes work against her in the peloton, "Because she is the best, nobody wants to continue cycling with her. Normally she can then ride away herself, but the level of competition has become higher. As a result, she will miss out on a lot this season," he explained.
In 2025, Vollering will begin a new chapter in her career as she joins FDJ-Suez after parting ways with Team SD Worx - Protime, a move that has raised eyebrows in the cycling community. Reflecting on her time at SD Worx, Hermsen added, "She has had a lot of run-ins at SD Worx. I don't know how well that is managed at FDJ."
She is the strongest and the strongest don't need no tactics. As soon as the road rises, she comes to the front and drops everybody
She appears as dominant among the women as Pogacar is in the men's peloton. But she doesn't appear to have even a basic understanding of racing tactics. Moreover, it seems like the entire field races against her, including her own team. This is odd, as she seems like a nice person in interviews, but something is clearly going on. If she just wants to go hard, she might do better switching to triathlon, or just running. It doesn't seem like she is going to figure out bike racing.
well she’s only been a pro for 4 years, and even without “figuring out” cycling yet she’s won the tour de france (twice), the vuelta, liége-bastogne-liége (twice), strade bianchi, amstel gold, fleche-wallone, dwars door vlaandren, and a bunch of individual stages. i agree that her undeveloped tactical IQ is a “ weakness” (obviously a byproduct of her enormous strength that has allowed her to get away with tactical blunders and still be a big winner), but there’s still time to change that. in the men’s side sometime like mathieu van der poel was still a bit of a tactical knucklehead as late as age 26 or so, and he was born into pro cycling. he finally got tired of blowing opportunities when he realized that they don’t present themselves all that often. vollering may come to the same conclusion. i hope so. greatness like she’s capable of would be a shame to squander to any unnecessary degree.
OCexile, you sound almost contradictory, "greatness that she is capable of" as if it's a question, when you also list all her accomplishments in just 4 years - that already seems kinda great to me! The question seems to be if she can keep this up, especially with a new team. She's a great rider to watch, that's for sure.
I get him completely, you can be great already but still far from what you could (have) achieve(d). Surprises aside, I think resultswise she’ll do just fine in the new team, after all she never really had to rely on one to get them.
I hope for the sake of others she doesn’t become an expert ;-) As OCexile has pointed out she’s capable enough of winning already. The others won’t be as tolerant of her as the men are of Pog if she starts sweeping everything up.
i have MASSIVE respect for vollering as an athlete. how can you not? but i do agree about the limits of her tactical and interpersonal skills. if she had both to the same degree as someone like kasia niewiadoma, she would end her career someday as one of the greatest cyclists of all time — male, female, whatever…
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- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025