"The end of Tour is still a long way off" - Demi Vollering leaves worries behind to fight for stage victory in Guéret

It seems like Demi Vollering has bounced off her stage 3 fall rather quickly and two days later, she was on the verge of winning a Tour de France Femmes stage in Guéret. A small group of best riders came together over the top of final climb on the course on Wednesday and in a following sprint, she came second. Just shy of the flying Kim Le Court who returns to yellow jersey with this victory. Vollering also profits in the GC as she returns onto a provisional podium, only 23 seconds behind the leader from Mauritius.

"It was fun racing today," Vollering told media at the finish. The troublesome consequences of earlier crash seem to no longer bother the Dutch star. "It went well, so I'm happy. I might not be at my absolute best yet, but the end of the Tour is still a long way off. First, it's time to recover, because it was a long day. The first hour was an average of 45, incredibly fast. These are very fast days here, but today was also enjoyable."

Winning today was a bit of a matter of pride since peloton visited the home region of Vollering's team, FDJ - Suez. "I knew there was a steep section in the final climb, because my team is from there. They had done a good reconnaissance and kept me well-informed."

With bonifications up for grab on top, some riders pushed really hard. Unlike some other opponents, Vollering kept calm on the penultimate climb and saved her matches for a sprint for victory. "The other riders were pushing so hard for the bonuses that I thought: I'll just wait and see if I can break past them with an attack." Ultimately, Kim Le Court was faster though: "It didn't quite work out, but it was a great final."