"I think I've lost some of my fear" - Demi Vollering pulls through the day after her crash safely

Despite her hard fall previous day, Demi Vollering was back in action on stage 4 of Tour de France Femmes. And while she had to battle pain and discomfort, the FDJ - Suez was able to cross the line with main group which was enough to keep her, at least virtually, in the running for overall victory.

"This morning I had so much neck pain. I sat down on my rollers and could barely keep my head up," Vollering begins the story of her day at Sporza. "Luckily, it went better on the bike. That gave me a good feeling. I also didn't have a headache and I couldn't feel my knee or back. So my neck was a bit sore. It started this morning. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow."

At least, the damage wasn't bad enough to not allow the Dutch cyclist to continue. "It was still exciting, because it was another typically chaotic final. You always feel a bit of tension there. It was going really well until a rider rode right into my side and I was parked. I got through again and luckily didn't lose any time. I think I've lost some of my fear now."

Vollering admits that yesterday's fall still bothered her. "I was a bit scared at first, but my teammates were always there for me. That was really great."

Vollering's previous team SD Worx - Protime have been able to win their second stage thanks to European champion Lorena Wiebes. She could enjoy a support of her whole team which includes a world champion Lotte Kopecky. Despite the Belgian clearly not being in her best self, she still gave it all to assist her leader.

"We won two of the four stages, so that's quite nice, but it's Lorena who keeps the team going," Kopecky admitted to HLN that she shouldn't be given too much credit for victories of her teammate. "I took the lead, but I didn't have the legs to keep going. The credit goes to Lorena and the other girls."