From our special correspondent on the Tour de France – Demi Vollering confirmed on Sunday, during the final time trial of the Tour de France Women, that she is, at 26, the new queen of cycling. The day before, she had taken power by winning the queen stage at the Tourmalet, by cracking the legend Annemiek van Vleuten. The Dutchwoman won her first Grand Tour victory there.
Published on: 07/30/2023 – 17:30
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The announced duel took place on the slopes of the Tourmalet. Also the transfer of power. The Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten, living legend of cycling, had to surrender on Saturday against her youngest and compatriot Demi Vollering, 26, who did a double blow by winning the queen stage of the Tour and the yellow jersey.
A success confirmed on Sunday July 30 in Pau, during the 8th and last stage, a 22 km time trial, where she finished second behind her teammate Marlen Reusser. Performances that allowed him to win the first Grand Tour of his career.
Even before the start of the Tour de France Women, Annemiek van Vleuten, who remained on five consecutive victories in the Grand Tours, had named the SD Worx rider as her main opponent. She was not mistaken.
At 26, Vollering is having an exceptional season, after winning the Strade Bianche in the spring and above all signing an exceptional hat-trick against the Ardennes (Flèche wallonne/Liège-Bastogne-Liège/Amstel) that only another Dutchwoman, Anna van der Breggen, now her sports director, had succeeded before her.
A rivalry with van Vleuten
Her goal for the second half of the season was to shake her eldest from her throne, after being her runner-up last year in the first women’s Tour de France of the professional era. She had dominated the Vuelta (two stage victories) but lost in the general classification for nine small seconds against van Vleuten who signed her most controversial victory.
During the penultimate stage, Annemiek van Vleuten had attacked during a “pee break”, in defiance of the traditions of the peloton, an attack which had offered him the red jersey of the Tour of Spain. The episode left traces even if the two women assure the opposite in public to the journalists.
The rivalry experienced a new episode on Saturday on the seventh stage of the Tour de France. In the descent of the Col d’Aspin which preceded the Tourmalet, the two women engaged in a real war of nerves, each refusing to pass relays, preferring to let Niewiadoma slip away and brake to let themselves be caught, than to give this pleasure to the other.
If we feared a lose-lose tactic on the spot, the result proved the youngest right. In the thick fog of the Tourmalet Demi Vollering sounded the end of recess by attacking five kilometers from the line.
“She attacked where we had decided,” says Anna van der Breggen, the sports director. “What she did was extraordinary.”
A team victory
Annemiek van Vleuten could only nod, beaten, abandoning her dreams of a Vuelta-Giro-Tour treble that she was able to achieve for the second consecutive year this season, before taking a well-deserved retirement, at 40 years, at the end of the year.
At the top, 2,115 meters above sea level, it was not rain that was streaming down Demi Vollering’s face but tears of joy and relief. “It’s extraordinary. It crowns an incredible season, which is that of my team too. It’s not normal to win,” she explained at the end of the stage.
Indeed, throughout this Tour de France, the rider was able to count on the help of the SD Worx armada, arch-dominant in 2023 with 52 victories. On this edition, its riders took the yellow jersey from the first stage without letting go thanks to Lotte Kopecky then Demi Vollering. The Dutch team also has the green jersey thanks to the Belgian, 2nd in the general classification at the buzzer, and also has 4 stage victories.
“We are able to change tactics in the race. We really trust each other and that makes the difference”, explains Demi Vollering.
A consecration for the one who came late to the cyclist: she concentrated for a long time on her studies and hesitated between cycling and ice skating. Before turning professional in 2019, she even worked as a florist.
With the retirement of her great rival and the support of her team, Demi Vollering can rest assured: this victory on a Grand Tour is undoubtedly only the first of a long series.
