"Even top riders can have worse days" - Demi Vollering's coach not concerned by implosion during last stage of Suisse

It's rare that Demi Vollering runs out of breath in a race, but that's precisely what happened at the Tour de Suisse. During the last decisive stage, the Dutch superstar was topped by her former teammate Marlene Reusser. It raises a question of whether Vollering, who was doing her fourth stage race within five weeks wasn't somewhat overloaded by her team?

"We make the planning based on our objectives," performance coach Lieselot Decroix gives an insight into the choices of the French team at Sporza. "It seemed to us a balanced choice with sufficient rest moments. Because Demi is someone with a huge engine who recovers very quickly from such efforts."

Perhaps a small oversight. The coach will use Vollering's break from racing to go back to the drawing board. "But now she didn't feel well and we have to look for the reasons why. Logical, because we are not robots. Even top riders can have something in mind."

"There are many roads that lead to Rome. It is important to continue to believe 100% in the choices you make," says the coach. "We are always looking for ways to push the boundaries. Sometimes we have to adjust, but that is the beauty of coaching. It will do Demi good to be home for a while and then complete a training block at altitude."

Reason for concern in the FDJ - Suez camp? Not at all. It's not like Vollering lost minutes in the high mountains where the Tour de France will be decided at the end of July. Reusser has certainly made a name for herself there, but Vollering is by no means out of contention.

"She wasn't beaten by a strong Reusser by minutes, right," Decroix concludes. "Of course there will be some doubts now, but it's up to us to nip them in the bud. Because we have a lot of confidence in a strong Tour."