Demi Vollering admits she wasn't always in control during the women's World Championship road race: 'Nerve-wracking moment'

Before she took her seat and began answering the questions, we saw a beautiful moment: Vollering took one last good look down at the gold medal around her neck and the white shirt with colored stripes on her shoulders. “I did it,” she seemed to say.

"Yeah, it really is a dream come true. I don't think I even fully realise it yet, but it's... yeah, crazy."

"I think the key moment was that we had a team that made it so tough, mountain after mountain. And then Puck made an amazing move to set me up for an attack. That was one of the key moments where we really shook off all the other riders, and then… well, I was on my own."

It was a really crazy race at that point, because the gap to Niewiadoma and the others kept getting smaller. It was always around 15 to 20 seconds, and I tried to stay in the moment and focus on my own effort. The moment they caught up, I thought, “Okay, now I have to switch to Plan B as quickly as possible.” But at the very least, I had to try to keep going all the way to the finish line without any regrets.

So yeah, it really did help to have a team working so hard for you all day long—it makes it a lot easier to cross the finish line with no regrets. Because you’re already carrying all the weight on your shoulders to see it through, so… yes, I’m incredibly proud to be standing here on the top step in this beautiful jersey.'

"I think this was one of the best races we've ever put on. I mean, it was a really interesting and exciting race right up to the finish line. Especially for Elisa Longo Borghini, who came so close again. So it was... you know, I couldn’t let up for a single moment and had to stay super focused every second to make sure nothing unexpected happened. So yeah, I think today was truly an incredible race and one of the best we’ve put on so far.”

"In hindsight, it's easy to say that you always felt like you were in control, but I think at that moment I did actually think to myself, 'Shit.' If she stays out front at the top of this climb, we’ll have a problem. But then I knew I just had to go as hard as I could up that climb and catch her before the top. So that’s what I did. And yeah, of course it was a tense moment—you don’t know what you can still do or what the others might do. So yeah, it was a nerve-wracking moment, but I’m really glad it all worked out.'

"Not too much, because I had mentally prepared myself so well for this race. I had already run through every possible scenario in my head. I've visualized this race millions of times in my mind, so I think I was prepared for any scenario. Of course, every time you ride a race, it always turns out just a little differently than you’d imagined.”

But it helped immensely to be prepared for so many different scenarios. The first scenario was to launch an attack and stay out in front on my own, which is, of course, the ideal scenario. But Plan B was that if they were catching up, I had to switch to a different scenario as quickly as possible and make sure it worked out in the best possible way. So it’s very important to make that switch as quickly as possible.'

"It's incredible to see that we finally did it. Especially after the race we rode today, because I’ve said many times in the past that if we want to win a race with me, this is how we have to approach it: put a team in front of me and have every team member sacrifice themselves to make the race very fast and maintain control.”

And that’s what we did today, and the result is this beautiful sweater draped over my shoulders. So it really took the dedication and all the hard work of every single team member to get to this point, and I’m incredibly proud of all the girls who were around me today, but also of our coach, Laurens ten Dam, who put this team together and made sure everyone was 100 percent committed to this plan.'

"I don't know, everyone keeps asking me this question, but I think it also has to do with getting a year older and a year wiser, you know? Every year you learn a little more and start to understand better how to deal with pressure. I also think that in previous years you didn’t realize you were feeling so much pressure, because once you understand just how much weight is on your shoulders, you can’t keep it up for very long."

So in those moments when you don’t realize just how much pressure you’re under, you think afterward, “Yeah, it was a lot harder than I thought at the time.” But year after year, you start to understand yourself better, and it also becomes easier to tell the people around you what you need and to surround yourself with a team like the one we have today. It’s also good to ask the team this, like: “Okay, we’re going to a race; I’m bringing a bunch of strong Dutch girls with me—they’re all sacrificing their own chances for me—and then I’ll finish it off for you guys.”

But you can never be sure in advance whether you’ll actually be able to finish it, so that’s really hard to say. The fact that you now dare to say: “Guys, you’re going to have to work really hard for me, and then I’ll win that jersey for you, even though there’s a chance I might not make it”—that’s a really tough moment. But by daring to say that now, something has changed for me personally, knowing that if it doesn’t work out, it’s not the end of the world.’

"This is probably the biggest victory of my career, partly because it’s such a tough race to win—the World Championships or the Tour de France. As I said, you’re racing alongside teammates who are normally your competitors, so it’s very difficult to forge a close-knit team that works together the way they did today. So I’m incredibly grateful for that. And I’m also very proud that we’ve made it this far.”