Demi Vollering crumbled at the top of Alpe d’Huez. She crossed the finish line and could no longer hold it together. She had remained composed for the entirety of the 150 kilometre stage, her eyes focused on the road ahead, her poker face in place, her body still and her cadence smooth. But when she looked up at the clock and saw that it had not been enough to win yellow, by just four seconds, the emotions came. She put her head in her hands and cried. People surrounded her and offered hugs and pats on the back to try and console the SD Worx rider but there was nothing that could be said or done to make things better. She had not defended her Tour de France Femmes title. The yellow jersey would go home on the shoulders of Kasia Niewiadoma. The dream was over.
For many, a stage win atop Alpe d’Huez might have sweetened things as a consolation prize for missing out on the overall victory. Vollering, however, holds herself to the highest standards. She came into this race as the outstanding favourite, with all the awareness that she is the best climber in the peloton this season. For her, the only option was to win.
“I don’t feel so good. First of all I feel empty after today’s effort but also disappointed that I couldn't win the yellow jersey for four seconds. It's a bit sour for me at the moment,” Vollering stated after the race, her voice quivering as she sat on a stage in front of microphones and the unmoving glares of journalists who threw questions at her.
“I wanted to attack the Glandon because I wanted to race today and leave it out on the road so that was what I did,” she continued. “My teammates did a really good job with four in the break. That was the plan. We hoped they could help me in the valley but it was not enough time for the break to stay out. I attacked and only Pauliena could follow. She was really strong and sometimes wanted to work with me but eventually she told me she wasn't allowed to work anymore. It was sad, because if you work with two it's easier to arrive at Alpe d'Huez with a bigger gap. In the end, I was very empty. I tried everything I could to stay out but it was not enough. That’s a pity.”
The sting of defeat was made even sharper for Vollering when she considered the events earlier in this race. On stage five, the Dutch rider suffered a crash which lost her the general classification lead, and she finished that day over one minute behind Canyon//SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma. From then on, it was about waiting for the final weekend to try and gain that time back in the mountains.
“In cycling, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. There are a lot of ‘ifs’, like if I would have stood up a little bit earlier [after the crash], if I would have jumped on the bike earlier, if I would win in Liège from Puck [Pieterse], if yesterday I attacked a bit earlier,” Vollering choked through tears. “There are so many ‘ifs’ but you don’t get anything from ‘ifs’. I can think very long about that, but it only makes me sad.”
The disappointment shown by Vollering permeated through the entire SD Worx team, who have come under fire for their tactics on multiple occasions during this race. The likes of Mischa Bredewold, Lorena Wiebes and Niamh Fisher-Black came over the line with crestfallen looks on their faces, barely believing the events of the day.
“We knew with this kind of time gap into the last stage and how strong Kasia is riding, we had to try a bold move by going early on the Glandon,” Fisher-Black said after the race. “Demi had done a recon of the stage and she kept talking about how steep the last bit of the Glandon was, so we knew that was going to hurt everybody. I think she can be proud of what she tried there. It didn’t work, but that’s racing.
Fisher-Black did not avoid the fact that her team will not be satisfied with just the stage victory, but explained that the only option was to look ahead. Eventually, they may be able to find some satisfaction in the fight that they showed today, keeping belief even when knowing that challenge was perhaps too big for even them to tackle.
“It's a huge disappointment. We came here with one goal, and that was the yellow jersey,” the Kiwi rider continued. “I think we put a lot of pressure on our shoulders as a team because of the success rate we’ve had. But losing is part of it, I think we have had a lot of setbacks this week too.
"I'm sure we can come together and realise what we've achieved. You can always think what if, but you cannot change what's done. It's racing. It's decided on seconds and luck a lot of the time. This was the story that this week made. That’s what it is, we will come back next year.”
