"It was a sh*tty situation... all I could think about on the final podium" - Demi Vollering recalls Tour de France heartbreak and costly stage 5 crash
CyclingTuesday, 24 September 2024 at 18:00
Just four seconds... that was all that separated Demi Vollering and a second successive Tour de France Femmes success earlier this summer. Although the Team SD Worx - Protime distanced race leader Katarzyna Niewiadoma on Alpe d'Huez on the final climb of the race, it turned out not to be enough to complete the GC overhaul.
"Deep down I felt it wasn't going to be enough because I had heard the time gap just before. I crossed the finish line and I sat down on the ground and I watched the time go by on the top of the finish line," recalls Vollering in conversation with The Athletic. "All I could think was: 'Let the time fly. Let Kasia stop. I just wanted time to move forward because it can, you know?". The moments were tense. Victory was slipping away. It was a different feeling. And then I saw her coming around the corner and I knew it wasn't going to happen."
"My family said I raced with my heart, that it was an incredible race and that they still loved me," she continues. "It was everything you want to hear. It was also what you don't want to hear because at that moment you only want one thing and that is the yellow jersey."
Although the Alpe d'Huez climb almost saw Vollering catapult back into the race lead, it wasn't enough. In truth though, that was not the moment the race was lost. On stage 5, the 27-year-old was caught up in a late crash, just outside the 3km safety marker. In an decision that caused uproar online, Team SD Worx - Protime opted against sending the team back to support the Maillot Jaune in her desperate chase back, as Blanka Kata Vas eventually took the stage win.
"It was a strange roundabout," Vollering recalls. "It was a shitty situation. I had so much pain in my lower back and leg that I had no strength. It took me quite a while to get up. However, then I realised I couldn't bend down to get my bike. By the time I picked it up and put the chain back on, the clock was ticking."
In the end, Vollering lost a total of 1:47 on that stage and despite regaining most of that, it ultimately proved too much to overcome. "I was so close and the way I lost was really painful," she concludes. "(The crash) was stupid and that was all I could think about on the final podium. However, then very quickly, the next morning actually, I could see how proud my family and friends were of my performance in the race. I saw how excited the fans were. Positive energy, no doubt."
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- I think it’s pretty weird under the circumstances and won’t be surprised if one day we discover some unmentioned detail that triggered this. In the meantime, hope he finds himself elsewhere.Mistermaumau08-05-2025
- Reusser is amazing too. More than just a TT specialist.mobk08-05-2025
- Tough to beat her on the long climbs if she has a team that will bring her fresh to the bottom of the climbsmobk08-05-2025
- Er, building up a 20 second gap in less than a km against the best is not exactly nothing, must have been at least 10% faster. Peletons also reel in breakaways but if they don’t manage BEFORE the end the reeling in doesn’t really mean much does it. She did exactly the right think, destroyed the others’ chances of catching her with a massive attack.Mistermaumau08-05-2025
- Demi must be so happy to now be on a team that works for her, and not against her. I think that if she and the team get their tactics dialed in, she could prove to be unstoppable this year.
santiagobenites08-05-2025 - I wouldn't call 24 seconds destroyed. At the end she was suffering and Reusser was slowly reeling her backabstractengineer08-05-2025
- I dont expect much from them top 5 maybeabstractengineer08-05-2025
- G does not strike me as a tactical support but more of a strategic one. His tactics were follow train and opponents and sprint at the endabstractengineer08-05-2025
- These pro forma statements, always the same, no wonder most people don’t get enthusiastic about follow cycling in depth.Mistermaumau08-05-2025
- Go, Yatesy!! And Felix!mhfrvz08-05-2025
The team pulling her in would have definitely saved her the tour GC win, but I guess when everyone panics, you lose sight of the big picture.
Demi's quite the professional. Many riders would have been publicly angry at the team in her situation. Glad Demi is going to another team where she will hopefully have full support. Also good because it spreads the talent around rather than having ALL the best riders in SD Worx
I've never seen anything like what SD Works did that day. To leave your team leader whose in the yellow jersey to fend for herself is unfathomable.
I love watching that team race, they are normally a well oiled machine, so this was perplexing. Especially considering a rider from her own team knocked her down. Sure let blanka vas continue for the win, but even if they had Wiebes hold back instead of sprinting for 8th place it could have made up for the 4 lost seconds. They would have had 2 women pulling.
Vollering must have been pissed at her team