Vollering camp deliberately held back from team car: ‘We can shout, but we can’t feel her legs’

Demi Vollering started Friday with the ambition of taking the yellow jersey on Mont Ventoux. FDJ-Suez had built its entire plan around giving the Dutchwoman the chance to shine on the Giant of Provence, but in the end it was Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) who seized control.

Sports director Lars Boom did not yet have the full picture immediately after the finish, after Vollering had clawed back a considerable amount of time in the final kilometre and dropped yellow jersey Marlen Reusser. “As far as I know at this point, nothing went wrong, although we had hoped for better legs. Demi was very good, but Kasia was better.”

Vollering herself was still left with questions afterwards when speaking to NOS. “That’s where the disappointment comes from, because I feel I should have tried earlier. But in the end, Kasia wins here with an incredibly strong and impressive performance. It’s difficult to say whether there was more in it. In the moment, you give it one hundred percent, and afterwards you think: if only I had…”

That evening, Head of Performance Lieselot Decroix appeared on Allez Les Femmes. “Obviously, before the stage we would not have signed up to finish second today and sit second overall,” she admitted immediately.

“So I’m not standing here smiling; we’re disappointed. But we’re also trying to see the positives: we can take encouragement from Demi’s final kilometre,” said Decroix, before putting her finger on where things had gone wrong. “We didn’t race the way we wanted to race. We made a few mistakes. Demi hesitated for a moment when Niewiadoma attacked.”

“I think she was afraid of being hit by a counterattack from Reusser,” the Belgian analysed. “We can sit in the team car and shout: you have to close the gap. But we can’t feel her legs either; we’re not the ones pedalling for her.”

“She waited that long because of the strong wind after Chalet Reynard. If Demi and Marlen had worked together at one hundred percent, they would definitely have come closer. But that didn’t happen,” Decroix said. “Kasia even increased her lead. Chapeau to her, but they also left time on the road in that phase. Demi only made her move once she was sheltered from the wind again.”

What now? “We’re allowed to be disappointed today, but the Tour isn’t over. At the Giro we showed that we can still change everything on the final day. We’ll do everything we can to do that again now,” she said, referring to the final stage in Nice.