Demi Vollering thanks Lars Boom and team, reveals déjà vu after seizing Tour de France Femmes lead

Demi Vollering had looked down and out, but just one day after losing more than a minute to Kasia Niewiadoma on Mont Ventoux, she struck back in spectacular fashion on Stage 8 heading toward Nice. Vollering cracked the newly crowned CANYON//SRAM yellow jersey wearer on a steep ramp in the finale and went on to take both the stage victory and the overall race lead. It was a remarkable example of continuing to believe, continuing to dream and being prepared to suffer an enormous amount of pain to make it happen.

“We just had to do it,” Vollering began in her flash interview shortly after crossing the finish line alone in Nice, 17 seconds ahead of Niewiadoma. “In a stage race, you live from day to day. You can be disappointed in the evening, but the next morning you put on a new face and go again. You try something, and you make a plan together with the team.”

According to Vollering, Lars Boom was the driving force behind that plan, which involved FDJ United-SUEZ going all-in during the finale of Stage 8. Franziska Koch and Célia Gery in particular produced impressive turns in the lead-out for Vollering, although Niewiadoma later accused Gery of unsportsmanlike behaviour during the decisive phase. “Lars came to me last night with this plan, and this morning we discussed it with the whole team,” Vollering explained.

Anyone who believes in manifestation received a striking real-life example from Vollering. “This morning I had a déjà vu about a thought I had during a recon somewhere in January. When I was riding here in Nice at the time, I saw myself taking the yellow jersey in this stage. I had actually forgotten all about that thought, but this morning it suddenly came back to me, almost as if it was meant to happen.”

It gave the European champion a little extra motivation, although she hardly appeared to be short of that already. “During the race, I kept trying to remind myself that we could do it and that I could do it. We had to try, and we had to go incredibly deep. I was in so much pain that I can’t even describe it. But we did it.”

Another motivational message from Vollering? There was certainly no shortage of them after the finish. “This proves that if you believe in something and dream about something, it doesn’t matter what it takes to get there. With the right people around you, you can achieve anything.”

After completing her double strike of stage victory and yellow jersey, Vollering still has one more challenge ahead: Sunday’s ninth and final stage around Nice. “Tomorrow is going to be super hard. I’ve been saying since the start of the Tour that anything can still happen on the final day. Fortunately, I’ll start in the yellow jersey and I’ve already won two stages. We’re really going to do everything we can to keep yellow, and my team will be ready for it.”

“It’s special to finally have yellow back again,” she emphasised. “It’s going to be a hard fight, but I’ll give everything I still have left in me. I don’t want to have any regrets afterwards. I’ve had that feeling too many times in my life already. I want to keep this yellow feeling all the way to the finish, that’s for sure.”