"Once Pogacar is away from the men you know what's going to happen anyway" - Demi Vollering argues 'women's sport deserves so much more' in terms of broadcast
CyclingMonday, 27 April 2026 at 11:00
Women's cycling is reaching bigger numbers and followers than ever but it often continues to be clouded by the race's broadcasting limits. As has been the case with other major events, this year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes finished after the men's race, limiting the amount of action on screens. Demi Vollering has argued strongly against this after her win at La Doyenne.
"Women's sport deserves so much more. When I started dreaming of this race, there was no Liège-Bastogne-Liège for women yet. Today is a reminder of how far we have come, but at the same time, also of how far we still have to go," the Dutchwoman said to De Telegraaf.
Vollering is one of the riders leading the sport forward, having net a personal sponsorship with Nike and reportedly having a salary of around €1 million euros per season. After what she had achieved at Team SD Worx - ProTime; FDJ United - Suez offered her a massive contract to bring big wins and the Tour de France Femmes back to a French team.
With the results she has been achieving this spring, including wins at Omloop het Nieuwsblad, Tour of Flanders and now Liège; she looks to be in a good position to strike during the summer, backed up by a team who has had Elise Chabbey and Franziska Koch also take stand-out wins.
From a position of power, Vollering uses her voice to speak up on what she believes is an issue however. “Speaking out and continuing to speak out is something I can do. Apparently, it is still necessary. I am simply repeating what I hear from many people. The fans want more, and it is important to keep speaking out about it.”
Is women's cycling more exciting than men's?
Sunday's race featured a lot of action right from the start, with the main teams marking each other. Her teammate and Strade Bianche Donne winner Elise Chabbey was part of an offensive move early on with several big names; and the race in itself was decided early on with Vollering launching the winning move on the Côte de la Redoute with 34 kilometers to go.
"I don't know if my attack on La Redoute was visible live. And even then. So much had already happened before that. Today's race has been so exciting, but it wasn't visible on television," she added. "I think we need to keep fighting for more."
Whilst in some of the main one-day races the two events used to take place on separate days, it is a large financial and logistical effort to make it happen in such way. More and more, organizers are resorting to running both races on the same day, with the women's being the latter.
“We used to start here very early, but back then the broadcast lasted longer. Now we finish after the men, but the broadcast is shorter. Yet it shouldn't be difficult. Use two shots and alternate a bit between the two," she argues.
"Once Pogacar is away from the men you know what's going to happen anyway...”
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- am i the only one who sees sexist language in cro's (aka mou aka dalmatian dog) comment?Ketterechts27-04-2026
- Same applies to men's cycling!Hills3327-04-2026
- Awesome idea to compare 60 minute efforts to 4 minute ones, amazing. Really, excellent work👌vampa27-04-2026
- No, no... women cycling is not boring. I like to watch them from beihind, thanks to drones, as they lean forwards on their bikes, so they are more aerodynamic, having a shape which reduces the drag from air moving past.Cro-Cop-Hr27-04-2026
- Pogi and Seixas were doining nearly 9W/kg... the greatest ever four-minute effort. Yes, the landscape has shifted toward athlete empowerment and increased investment in sports science for recovery. Smart devices provide real-time data on athlete health, performance, and workload, enabling tailored and targeted training. Power meters have become something common, along with smart indoor trainers that, coupled with platforms like Zwift, have shifted training indoors and changed how cyclists prepare. Road cycling is faster than ever. Pro teams utilize advanced, 3D-printed technology, strict aerodynamic testing, and high-intensity, year-round training to set higher average speeds. The "80/20" rule has become mainstream, with most training done at low intensity (Zone 2) to build stamina, punctuated by short, intense sessions (20%). Last year Pogi talked about the "carbohydrate revolution,"... with focusing on high carb intake per hour for training and racing, allowing for higher training intensities and quicker recovery.Cro-Cop-Hr27-04-2026
- > And your point about boring racing reveals your ignorance. Ignorance? By stating a FACT? > Physiological differences mean that the racing cannot be the same in both sports. Physiological differences are take care of - women's races are much shorter and tours have less stages. But physiological differences make them racing in boring way? There's something I do not know about? What's more - seems only road cycling is boring. Women in XCO or CX are great and they really fight.averagecyclist27-04-2026
- I agree with Pogifan that criticising men's racing won't help women's racing, although it sounds like that was a tongue in cheek comment from Demi. At times men's racing is more interesting and at times women's racing is more interesting. With Strade Bianche is was the latter. And your point about boring racing reveals your ignorance. Physiological differences mean that the racing cannot be the same in both sports. You can liken the differences between men's and women's road racing to the differences between road racing and cyclo-cross. A climber in CX (like Emiel Verstrynge) is a puncheur on the road. A sprinter in CX is a rouleur on the road. So why are the differences between men's racing and women's racing problems? Men and women are not the same, no matter what the AndrewK fellow says
Rafionain-Glas27-04-2026 - Two runners recently finished a official marathon under 2 hours. In the NBA, Victor Wembanyama is doing things at 7'4" that players 6'2" were not doing when I was younger. Shohei Otani may well win both an MVP and a Cy Young award in baseball. On and on it goes. The science of sport, the ubiquity of top training, the expansion of the talent pool across the globe, and all the money involved have combined to produce the biggest, fastest, most skilled athletes in almost every sport. In some cases by astonishing margins. Cycling has been among the last big sport to go through this revolution, in part because of the post-doping hangover, and in part because there is a natural conservatism in large parts of the cycling world. But that has changed since 2019/20, obviously, and what we are seeing in this sport is the nearly inevitable result of all the same factors that have advanced other sports. Of course there are cheaters, but 99% of what we are seeing is natural and admirable progress.MidnightRider27-04-2026
- I'd say the women need a "female Pogi"... or MvDP...or Remco... or Van Aert ... to make cycling more exciting. But of course with more pretty faces and nice tushy's💋💋💋Cro-Cop-Hr27-04-2026
- PogiFan - I also don't see him riding for 15 years total (nor did I suggest that he would). For what it's worth, Merckx rode for 14 years, but the last 2 were really not the same, anymore. He and Pogačar are tied in Year 8, and in 4 more years I can imagine him passing 19 monuments and 3 world championships, but he's going to have a hard time passing 11 grand tours unless he starts racing more of them. If he races past 2030, who knows, but it seems unlikely.RidesHills27-04-2026
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