“Some races are simply close to your heart” - Demi Vollering looks forward to racing both the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège alongside Lotte Kopecky

After achieving a prestigious treble with victories at the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023, Demi Vollering will be looking to kick-start her season with another successful Ardennes Classics campaign this year.

The SD Worx-Protime rider has struggled to hit the same heights that she reached last year, as she had already taken victories at Strade Bianche and Dwars door Vlaanderen, as well as finishing runner-up at both the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Brabantse Pijl by this point in the season.

Vollering came close to taking her first win of the season at this year’s edition of Brabantse Pijl, but she was unable to follow the wheel of Elisa Longho Borghini when the Italian champion attacked with around 8km to go.

The Dutch rider will be racing both the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège alongside her Belgian counterpart Lotte Kopecky, who will be making her debut at La Doyenne at this year’s edition. Kopecky did race the Amstel Gold Race last season though, finishing second behind Vollering. She is coming off the back of an emphatic win at Paris-Roubaix and has also taken victories at Strade Bianche and the Danilith Nokere Koerse.

Ahead of this weekend’s race in Limburg, both Kopecky and Vollering spoke to WielerFlits about the upcoming Ardennes Classics, with Kopecky stating that “I have never ridden in Liège. Yet, after last season, I consider myself capable of playing for victory in that Classic”.

On adding another race to her palmarès this season, she went on to say “we are now at the point where we can start ticking the boxes. For me, a record with many different competitions is the best”.

After taking her victory in all three of the major Ardennes Classics last season, Vollering earned comparisons to Anna van der Breggen, who was imperious in many of those races throughout her career and achieved the same treble in 2017.

In her interview she said “it is also special when you manage to win a certain race very often in succession. Just like Anna van der Breggen won the Flèche Wallonne seven times in a row. Some races are simply close to your heart. You want to win that every year. On the other hand, I also enjoy taking on new challenges”.