Vollering and Pieterse alliance falls flat in ‘weird’ Milan-Sanremo: "Now I get Pogacar’s frustration"
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Follow us on Google“Next time we need to play it better tactically,” they shouted to each other. Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse may ride for different teams, but once again, Milan-San Remo showed that the two close friends like to join forces in a race. That didn’t work out over the Poggio, leading both riders to admit to IDLProCycling.com that too much went wrong for them to have a shot at winning La Primavera for women.
“I enjoyed it more than I expected,” Pieterse said immediately after the finish, still catching her breath. That she ended up in 11th place—just outside the top ten—didn’t bother the Fenix-Deceuninck leader much. Pieterse came to fight for a podium spot, but already knew on the Poggio that it wasn’t going to happen. “I wasn’t far enough to the front,” she lamented. Taking the women’s KOM on the Poggio on Strava was, at best, a small consolation.
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Vollering and Pieterse also rode together in Strade Bianche
Vollering better understands Pogacar’s Sanremo frustrations
“It was weird,” Vollering said about her debut in northern Italy. “It was a fast, tough race, but the climbs weren’t hard enough because all the climbing teams left their leaders isolated too early. On the Poggio, there was no space to go anywhere, so when Juliette (Labous) found a gap, she could attack. But for me, it was already too late. Canyon//SRAM set a solid pace, but it was just right for Lorena and Lotte (Wiebes and Kopecky).”
And so, Vollering had to settle for fifth place. “It went so fast that it was hard to make a difference. Everyone’s at their limit from the bottom of the Poggio to the finish,” she admitted. She now better understands why the men have long said it’s the hardest race to win. “Now I get Pogi’s (Tadej Pogacar’s) frustration—that final climb is over so quickly… if you’re not in position for just a second, it’s already over.”
Read more below the video
Vollering miraculously stays upright in Milan-Sanremo
Vollering and Pieterse were the first to crest the Poggio, but it was more about positioning for the descent than making a move. “I took the descent the way I always do—by memorizing the corners—but unfortunately, I had only ridden it twice before. I was a bit frustrated by that, although I still remembered it fairly well. During the race, it’s also different because you tend to push a little more,” said the FDJ-SUEZ team leader.
“I also just didn’t really have my day,” Vollering concluded, after narrowly avoiding multiple crashes in the finale. “At one point someone crashed right next to me, and I thought she was going to take me down with her. I actually rode over her rear wheel but miraculously stayed upright. Then in another crash shortly after, I just barely made it through, though I could still feel riders hitting me from behind—one even hit my leg. I went up the Cipressa full of adrenaline and stress, and honestly, I never really recovered from that. On the Poggio, I could feel the lactic acid in my legs.”
Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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