Lizzie Deignan calls Vollering the female Pogačar and tips Van der Breggen for the Tour de France Femmes

When Demi Vollering pulled on the Giro d'Italia Women pink jersey on the final stage of the race on Sunday, she became on the third woman to win all 3 Grand Tours. An impressive feat for an impressive rider, one that Lizzie Deignan, former Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner, likened to that of an especially prolific rider in the men's peloton.

Impressive as it was, Vollering had to wait until the last day to finally take control of the race. On stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia Women, Vollering and Van der Breggen were surprised by an attack from Antonia Niedermaier, one of the stars of the race. It looked like the 'old guard' of women's cycling was about to be upset by the next generation of talent. That was, until Vollering almost single handedly reeled in the group to secure her first Giro d'Italia victory.

Deignan spoke about the dominance of Vollering, the fight put up by Anna van der Breggen, and where this 'new generation' of climbers emerging, on the For the Love of Cycling podcast.

Ned Boulting asked Deignan if Vollering was now one of the all-time greats. “Yeah, absolutely. She's a very versatile rider. Very accomplished in the classics and in stage races. Obviously the favourite I would say going into the tour de France again this year," said the Brit.

"She's been the favorite since it's been in its long format. To be considered the favorite over the last 5 years is a very impressive achievement as well as performing all year in the classics as well," she added.

“In the same way that Tadej [Pogačar] can, she's our female version of Tadej," she said with a grin. "Obviously not quite on the same level in terms of out and out dominance, but she's certainly as versatile as he is."

While many commentators saw Van der Breggen's loss of the Giro d'Italia Women as a failure, Deignan saw a rider who is taking her time to come back from retirement. “To be able to take a minute out of rivals [on the time trial, ed] like that was incredibly impressive. It was kind of was sort of like a 'wow, I've underestimated her'. I've underestimated this comeback," said Deignan.

"I think probably also underestimated the fact that she needed a season last year to get back into racing. She came back last year, obviously came out of retirement, had a really good season, but everyone said, 'oh, she's good, but she's not as good as she was'," explained Deignan.

“But actually, with retrospect, that was probably a bit naive. She just needed a season to get into racing again. And she's proved already this season, almost winning the Veulta until the last stage, almost winning the Giro until the last stage, that she is one to be scared of particularly for the Tour de France. Because she looks like she's only getting better.

Deignan also remarked about the emergence of pure climbers at the Giro d'Italia Women, something that is different from in her day. "We're seeing this real emergence of pure climbers that we've never had before because we just didn't have the opportunities. Whereas now those pure climbers, you're starting to see them in the stage races, like Niedermaier for instance," Deignan said.

"She's such a stage racer, and a couple of years ago, before we had the Giro, the Tour, and the Vuelta, in the longer format that we have, perhaps her career wouldn't have had that many standout results," explained Deignan.

"But now she has a brilliant opportunity, because of the way that women's cycling is developing, to stamp her kind of physiology and authority on these longer stage races. She climbed onto the podium at the end as well. I think going forwards, with more and more mountaintop finishes in the stage races, we'll see people like her emerge."

Deignan was particularly impressed by the rise of Lauren Dickson, Demi Vollering's mountain domestique. "Lauren Dixon who for me was an absolute standout performer the whole Giro," she said of her compatriot. "She's a 26-year-old Scottish girl. Probably a lot of people have never heard of her before. I certainly don't remember racing with her last year. The massive step up that she's made in one season in their first world tour year has been phenomenal. She was the last one standing every day for Demi. She was invaluable on stage nine actually. Where they were able to isolate Anna and take advantage.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs | [email protected]