"She needs a team around her that reacts and is critical" - Dumoulin wants Vollering back on the throne and a different FDJ

The 2026 season has started at full throttle for Demi Vollering. The Dutch rider claimed two stage victories and secured the overall classification at the Vuelta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana, confirming early on that she has entered the new campaign in excellent physical condition. Last Saturday, she opened her Spring Classics chapter with victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad WE, outsprinting Katarzyna Niewiadoma after a selective finale.

For the Dutchwoman, these results serve as a positive indicator ahead of the major objectives outlined for 2026, with particular focus on the hilly Classics, the Tour de France Femmes, and the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, which will take place in Canada.

Former Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin analysed the race that traditionally opens the Flemish calendar’s opening weekend, drawing parallels with last year’s edition, won by Lotte Claes after she went clear in a breakaway launched 75 kilometres from the finish.

“You can also look critically at her tactical choices. Last year, in the Omloop, they just let everything unfold. It was a very strange race. Nobody wanted to take control, even though Vollering was the big favourite. They didn’t want to because it would mean having to race all the races, but that’s what you do when you are the best rider in the world. Pogacar does it too, right?”, he said to the podcast NOS Cycling.

It is public knowledge that FDJ - Suez intends to extend Vollering’s contract beyond the end of the current season, with the Dutch rider’s deal running until the end of 2026. Still, Dumoulin issues a warning regarding the management of the competitive environment surrounding the team leader.

“If you have a team that forms around you and tells you that everything you do is good, I think they didn’t always handle that well last year.”

With the Tour de France Femmes established as the main priority, Vollering will face a formidable rival in the high mountains in the shape of Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

“The gap in the Tour de France Femmes with Ferrand-Prévot was quite big. I think it will be very difficult to close that gap in the high mountains.”

Dumoulin highlights the morphological differences that may influence performance on long climbs.

“But certainly in a Tour de France Femmes like this one… She is simply a taller woman than Ferrand-Prévot. In men’s cycling, you also increasingly see shorter riders excelling in the mountains. It is becoming harder and harder for slightly heavier riders to follow the pace. But if anyone can do it, that person is Demi.”

Finally, the Dutchman adopts a more critical tone regarding his compatriot’s media stance, suggesting that an overly defensive narrative could be counterproductive.

“She doesn’t need that. She has the potential to be, by far, the best rider in the world. But she also needs a team around her that reacts and is critical. That’s how you become better together. Friction creates shine.”

For 2026, the question is not whether she will be in contention, but how high she can raise her level when it comes to the defining moments of the season.