Team manager Lars Boom praises Demi Vollering after impressive Tour de France Femmes time trial: ‘She looks much healthier than last year’

Demi Vollering is in an excellent position after four days of the Tour de France Femmes. The FDJ United-SUEZ leader crashed during stage 3, so there was some uncertainty over how she would perform in the individual time trial towards Dijon. However, the Dutchwoman produced an impressive ride. Team manager Lars Boom discussed her performance beside the team bus in an interview with NOS.

The time trial was won by pre-race favourite and world champion Marlen Reusser, who also took the yellow jersey for Movistar. Vollering finished third, 17 seconds behind the Swiss rider, and moved up to second place in the Tour de France Femmes general classification. She now trails Reusser by 14 seconds.

“When I look at it that way, I’m very happy,” Boom said. “We also rode a good time trial at the Giro, but we were in a completely different situation then. Things are different now. I’m incredibly proud of the way Demi rode: aggressive from the start, maintaining a consistent pace and following the instructions well. That is very pleasing.”

Vollering managed to regain time on Reusser during the second part of the course, while several other overall contenders endured a more difficult afternoon in Dijon. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, for example, conceded more than two minutes.

“It was an incredibly fast time trial, and you could see that you really needed to produce your full power at precisely the right moments,” Boom analysed. “We know Demi can do that, and Marlen can obviously do it as well. Pauline’s focus may be a little more geared towards the high mountains, which could explain why those gaps appeared.”

The team manager is now looking forward to the coming stages. “I think we are in a very strong position. I genuinely see a completely different Demi compared with last year. She looks much healthier and has an enormous desire to race. Everything looks good, and we are really excited to head into the mountains tomorrow.”