“Mentally, I wasn’t really there anymore” - Demi Vollering’s golden fortnight finally catches up with her at European Championships
Cycling
Demi Vollering has spent the last two weeks winning almost everything in front of her. By the time she rolled down the start ramp for the European Championship time trial in Slovenia, however, the edge that had carried her through that golden run had finally started to disappear.
The Dutchwoman still finished second behind Marlen Reusser on Wednesday, conceding 23 seconds to the Swiss world champion over the 21.8-kilometre course around Šenčur.
Afterwards, Vollering was far from disappointed with silver. "It's difficult for me to beat Marlen Reusser. We've already seen that in the past. But of course I tried. I'm very happy to finish second," she said.
Only days earlier, Vollering had won the European Championship road race in Slovenia, one week after becoming world champion in Montreal. With those two major titles secured, much of the Dutch team then headed home.
"After the road race, the girls went home," Vollering explained. "To be honest, I feel like my motivation and concentration went home with them. It really felt like there was a very long time until today."
"My motivation and concentration went home with them"
Vollering had produced one of her biggest performances of the season only a few days earlier, attacking clear on the final ascent of Možjanca to complete a World and European road race double.
When she returned to the same roads against the clock, Reusser quickly had the upper hand. The Swiss rider was 11 seconds faster at the first checkpoint after eight kilometres and had stretched that advantage to almost 21 seconds by 16.3 kilometres. Vollering eventually crossed the line 23.33 seconds down as Reusser added a record fifth European time trial title to the rainbow jersey she had won in Montreal.
"Mentally, I wasn't really there anymore," Vollering admitted.
Even on a day when the same focus was no longer there, second place was never seriously threatened. Juliette Berthet eventually took bronze more than 45 seconds behind Vollering.
It brought Vollering's racing season to an end with three medals from three major championship starts in little over two weeks: road gold in Montreal, road gold in Slovenia and TT silver.
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A longer break finally awaits
The racing is finished, but Vollering cannot disappear on holiday quite yet. "The next month is going to be quite busy," she said. "We have a few days with the team. I'm also going back to California with the team for Specialized."
It will be November before she can properly switch off. "I'll have a slightly longer off-season this year. I think that will do me good. Then it will already be time to start preparing for next season. I'm already looking forward to next year."
For the next few weeks there are still team and sponsor commitments to get through. Only after that will Vollering get the extended break she has planned before preparations for 2027 begin again.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- I don't want to state the obvious, but after reading your posts, I want to say that your opinion is completely irrelevant.MajorPayne07-10-2026
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