"My radio was not working" - Blanka Kata Vas explains controversial SD Worx tactics after Demi Vollering's crash on stage 5 of 2024 Tour de France Femmes
Cycling
Blanka Kata Vas took the first stage win of her Tour de France Femmes career on Thursday afternoon in a thrilling finale to stage 5. Due to a late crash for her Team SD Worx - Protime leader Demi Vollering however, it wasn't the perfect day for the team.
"It's crazy, I still can't believe it. I don't know what to say! I really didn't expect this today because I felt so bad during the race," the Hungarian national champion reflects of her triumph in her post stage interview. "Anna Van der Breggen said to me 'believe in yourself' and then it helped me a lot."
As mentioned though, Vollering's crash and the subsequent losing of her Maillot Jaune was a big talking point post stage, as was the lack of support given to the Dutchwoman as she chased pretty much singlehandedly and ultimately unsuccessfully to get back into the bunch.
"My radio was not working so I didn't know what happened in the back but Demi crashed and lost Yellow so it's a shame," Vas says, explaining why both she and Lorena Wiebes offered no help to the defending Tour de France Femmes champion. "Now, I have mixed feelings. I was just in Mischa Bredewold's wheel so I was in 2nd position. I did not hear anything so I don't know what happened."
Despite this however, Vas' joy with the win can hardly be hidden. "In the final, I didn't want to make the same mistake as the Olympics [she finished 4th]. I was suffering so much but I knew if I was in a small group, maybe I can win," she concludes her post stage reflection. "Also the Olympics gave me a lot of confidence because I was racing in the front. So now, if I have a good day, I know I can be in the front."
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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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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🏆 The final kilometre of this very eventful 5th stage saw 🇭🇺 Blanka Vas take victory after a sprint in a small group. 🏆 Le dernier KM de cette 5ème étape au final très agité et la victoire de 🇭🇺 Blanka Vas après un sprint en petit comité. #TDFF2024 | #WatchTheFemmes |
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