Kasia Niewiadoma apologised to Demi Vollering over Tour de France Femmes outburst as FDJ-Suez leader seals comeback victory
CyclingMonday, 10 August 2026 at 10:07
It's taken three years, but Demi Vollering returned to throne reserved for Tour de France Femmes champion. In the last two editions, the Dutchwoman often fell short to reasons other than performance, but in 2026 she left no room for doubts; even though she might not have been the strongest in Mont Ventoux queen stage.
Furthermore, Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma have put to bed their Tour war of words after their legs did all the talking on stage 9's ascents of Col d'Eze, with the runner-up publicly offering her apologies for comments over an incident involving Celia Gery on stage 8.
Just as big of an achievement it is for the rider herself, it is a huge milestone for her team FDJ - SUEZ. The French team made an expensive bet when they bought the Dutchwoman out of her contract at SD Worx - Protime, eyeing their historical Tour de France Femmes victory.
Last year, French fans indeed got to celebrate a French winner, but they did not come from a local team. Instead, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot added a third title for Dutch outfits.
"It is so special that we won this race," FDJ - SUEZ sports director Lars Boom told WielerFlits after the final stage where Vollering defended her lead and confirmed her overall victory.
It's been a long process which started in 2025 upon Vollering's arrival to the team: "Stephen (team manager Stephen Delcourt, ed.) started this a few years ago, when he brought Demi in. Last year it wasn't meant to be. But fortunately, it was this year," said Boom.
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Mentally stronger than before
Vollering might well be the strongest cycling in the current women's peloton (with exception for sprints where Lorena Wiebes holds her crown firmly), yet she doesn't win as often as might be fitting. That is often attributed to her tactical imperfections.
In 2026, it once again wasn't a tactically perfect race from Vollering. Especially on Mont Ventoux, her tactical chess with fellow competitor Marlen Reusser allowed 2024 champion Kasia Niewiadoma to gain a significant lead and leapfrog into the yellow jersey. Even though she eventually succumbed to Vollering's attacks in final two stages.
"What made the difference? We went back to the drawing board. We looked at what we didn't do well. We tried to keep Demi mentally fresh. Then she can do much more than she thinks."
In the run-up to the Tour, Boom had no doubt that Vollering was ready to end her streak of second places. Winning the Giro d'Italia Women earlier this season might've given her the much needed final reaffirmation.
"You could see all year that Demi is very fresh. Mentally, she can always suffer. That is the most important thing. But an athlete always has doubts, of course. But we got her back on the right track."
Put an end to conspiracy
Finally, the decisive triumph on Tour's final day was vital to avoid further conspiracy.
Following the penultimate stage, Vollering and teammate Célia Gery were under fire of criticism over a tactical move where they managed to get a jump on Niewiadoma on the stage's final hill and slip into yellow jersey.
Today's victory underlined that Vollering would've most likely won regardless of the 23 seconds (including bonifications) she had gained there.
Kasia Niewiadoma apologizes to Demi Vollering and FDJ-SUEZ after final stage of Tour Femmes 🙏#KasiaNiewiadoma #DemiVollering #TourdeFranceFemmes #TDFF2026 #cycling pic.twitter.com/sMvYX1zGN9
— Wielerflits.nl (@WielerFlits) August 9, 2026
Niewiadoma apologises for comments
"Certainly. It has a huge impact because every little thing gets huge press coverage. Célia is almost breaking down because of it. You don't want that for a rider like that, because Célia rode a fantastic Tour. She is a fantastic person and a fantastic rider in the making. Demi also said on the radio: 'This is for Célia.' What she had to go through yesterday is unacceptable."
After the final stage, Niewiadoma confirmed that she apologised to Vollering and to Boom and FDJ-Suez for her comments against Gery and the team.
In a Wielerflits video, the Polish runner-up is seen offering her apologies and making amends with the team, while it was also reported that she spoke with Vollering.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- hiring young guns instead of almost retired ex-stars. the right way to go!Ketterechts10-08-2026
- alot of pundits online especially twitter contributing to that. Riders dont deserve that. Alot of hate on twittermiguel10-08-2026
- Poggi has been cloned, she`s called Demi Vollering.
Senna196010-08-2026 - The thing is for a young rider to not get into controversial positions at all. She did impede Kasia and that brings consequences. If Kasia had crashed, it would be even more. Avoid dirty tactics or be prepared to take the social media consequences in your stridesabstractengineer10-08-2026
- > If Kasia had gone straight to FDJ Suez DS instead, there would have been no death threats. You confuse the effect with the cause. If Gery hadn't been unfair, there wouldn't have been any threats. > And the message that you are sending out here, that a young cyclist deserves to have her life threatened for controversial positioning is extraordinary. What??? I'm not supporting any threats to anyone. So go and be an idiot somewhere else.averagecyclist10-08-2026
- Especially since Gery received death threats!onegear2910-08-2026
- If Kasia had gone straight to FDJ Suez DS instead, there would have been no death threats. And the message that you are sending out here, that a young cyclist deserves to have her life threatened for controversial positioning is extraordinary.Hills3310-08-2026
- Pogacar is uae been there all career without them he is not the best in history. Creds to them for that and their the best team now too, its impossible to beat that combo. Dont know whats hard to grasp by that. And they raising del toro too to become great rider its hard for other teams to keep up with that.miguel10-08-2026
- When you trying to judge here please consider first: - would any of Visma domestiques do same to Pogačar? - would any of UAE domestiques do same to Jonas Vingegaard? The only answer that comes to mind is: NO, they respect each other. So why the hell Gery/FDJ had to do such a dirty and not necessary move? Shame on them.averagecyclist10-08-2026
- Video footage of the incident is unclear, but apparently Gery was acting as leadout for Demi, with Kasia on Demi's wheel. At a steep uphill turn, Gery then slowed down and moved to the side to let Demi through, but in the process, blocked Kasia who reacted to Demi's attack, but had to avoid Gery, thereby losing momentum. FDJ's DS Lars Boom confirmed that what happened was his specific instructions to Gery, " to stay in Vollering’s wheel until after the turn and then drop away quietly"..FredMan10-08-2026
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