Tour de France Femmes 2024: Demi Vollering 'very motivated' to regain GC lead in Tour after Stage 5 crash setback

ByEurosport

Published 16/08/2024 at 21:26 GMT

SD Worx-Protime rider Demi Vollering began Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes in the lead, but a crash cost her almost two minutes, and saw Canyon-SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma move in front. After Friday's Stage 6, Vollering was pleased with her performance and was looking to relaunch her assault on the title in the remaining stages. “I’m very motivated to get yellow back," Vollering said.

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Demi Vollering said she was “very motivated” to retake the lead of the Tour de France Femmes after her crash.

The SD Worx-Protime rider impressed in Stage 6, on her way to Morteau, after suffering a heavy fall in the previous stage.

A large part of the Tour was brought down at the exit of a roundabout in Stage 5, and Vollering lost almost two minutes to Canyon-SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma.

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But while she suffered enough to lose the yellow jersey, she sustained only minor bruising and abrasions.

Vollering started Friday’s stage 1:19 behind Niewiadoma, and was able to keep the gap more or less the same as she felt her way into the day’s riding.

“Today I just wanted to have a good day, survive a bit, relax a bit and recover towards tomorrow,” Vollering told Cycling News.

“I’m very motivated to get yellow back so today I tried to stay calm as much as possible and to give the legs a little bit of rest for the coming two days.”

Vollering said that she was feeling well enough to compete after Stage 6, but admitted the crash had affected her.

“I think the legs were still fine so I’m happy,” she explained.

“Sometimes [they are] a bit of a rollercoaster, like I’m super motivated and then of course you feel some insecurities.

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“You’re angry about what happened and disappointed, so emotions go all the way. But mostly, me and my team are motivated for the coming two days to try to get yellow back.”

Vos on 'trying to survive'

Elsewhere on the Tour, Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) grabbed a points lead in the sprinting standings after taking second spot in Stage 6.

After losing touch with the leading pack, she was able to rejoin the riders in the chase for victory, though she was pipped by Cedrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT).

Speaking to Eurosport after the stage, Vos was quick to pay tribute both to Kerbaol, and her Visma-Lease a Bike team-mate Fem van Empel.

She said: “To be honest I was quite a bit dropped on the last climb. I struggled and I was happy to get back to the main bunch. I think Kerabol did a great job to stay ahead.

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“I tried to make it across and we tried to make the maximum points possible on the intermediates. I was trying to survive as long as possible for the stage.

“The time was coming back on the climb so I knew it was going to be quite hard but Fem van Empel did a really great job on the second to last climb to keep the pace as high as possible.

“So I could try and survive in the main pack. It was a struggle but I was happy to come back. The plan is first to recover from today and then see what the plan is for tomorrow.”

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Tour de France Femmes