"I do have a very sore arm, neck and shoulder" - Only collateral damage for Demi Vollering in Dutch Championships crash

It was more of a "let's give it a try" participation from Demi Vollering at the completely flat Dutch Championships which took place this Saturday. But the race nearly ended in a disaster for the FDJ - Suez star when she got herself involved a crash. Luckily, it appears no major damage was done and so Vollering can steadily continue to prepare towards Tour de France Femmes in a month.

"I don't think I suffered any consequences. I do have a very sore arm, neck and shoulder, but I think everything is still intact," she told NOS. "I can still move it, but I never trust myself. My pain threshold is quite good, so I am always a bit careful. I have often said that everything was fine and then afterwards I had broken things."

With the pan-flat parcours, does the Dutchwoman regret signing up for the race? "At this moment I think 'damn, I should have stayed home.'"

"It's never chill," she told Wielerflits after the race. "They went down in front of me, and there was no breakaway at 50 kilometers per hour. I think it was not that bad, I managed to save myself and lay myself down neatly on the floor."

For a moment, she feared her Tour de France could be in ruins. "But once I was on the ground, I thought 'I think I'm okay'. Then it's more like a sigh and you think 'okay, luckily everything is fine,'" she said. "I was lying at the bottom and tried to protect my head a bit. I hoped that nothing sharp would come at me."

If there are no further consequences, Vollering will head over to a training camp ahead of the Grand Départ on July 26. "Fortunately, the first week at altitude is always mainly about adapting and taking it easy. It will be fine and it will not get in the way of the program too much," she said to NOS. "The body has to recover, and that costs extra energy, but that is sometimes part of it."