Yesterday's finale at the Tour de France Femmes was as tense as it could be, as the breakaway held on for dear life, successfully. In the peloton there was a crash inside the final kilometer, Demi Vollering avoided it but did not have nice words to say after the finish line.
“I just had to survive the ride and stay out of trouble. It was a chaotic final and I insisted on staying ahead, so I chose Lotte's [Kopecky] wheel," Vollering told NOS after the stage. "The other sprinters started giving shoulder pushes to grab that wheel too, so I lost her rear wheel for a while. Fortunately I was able to stay well positioned and that way I was in front of the crash. I hope I gained some time that way, because it was quite a fight to stay at the front.”
Kopecky sprinted to third on the day, behind Emma Norsgaard from the breakaway and Charlotte Kool who won the sprint in the peloton. Vollering decided to get in the yellow jersey's wheel but found the hardships of staying at the front during a bunch sprint.
“Our other teammates didn't get to the front of the peloton. There was also some disrespect in the peloton, no one let us through. It is then quite a battle in the peloton," she concluded. Today Vollering will tackle the queen stage as a big favourite, and has the task of being one of SD Worx's weapons to net the overall classification.
For the 6th stage in a row, Team SD Worx finished in the top 3. The breakaway got rewarded for their efforts. The sprinting peloton came just too late. Lotte Kopecky finished 3rd. "I am obviously disappointed, but also happy to secure green." More teamsdworx.com/en/news/tdff23… 📸Getty
