'Exactly what we wanted' - Vollering hails FDJ-Suez tactics

Demi Vollering’s FDJ-Suez squad was strikingly aggressive on stage 6 of the Tour de France Femmes, with no fewer than three of the pre-race favourite’s teammates going on the offensive on the road to Ambert.

Although Vollering herself was relatively isolated in the finale, she insisted that the attacking was part of a strategy to wear down the AG Insurance-Soudal squad of yellow jersey Kim Le Court.

Vollering came home in fourth place on the stage, just behind Le Court and 1:13 down on stage winner Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ). In the overall standings, she has dropped a place to fourth, 31 seconds down on Le Court after Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto) nabbed bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.

FDJ-Suez riders Elise Chabbey and Amber Kraak featured in the early break on the most demanding stage of the Tour de France Femmes to this point, which compelled AG Insurance-Soudal to set a brisk tempo on the Col du Beal.

“Our plan was to send Elise, or at least some of our riders, ahead,” Vollering said, according to Wielerflits. “That way, we could put pressure on the other teams to chase. It was a perfect situation. We didn’t have to do anything, while AG Insurance Soudal lost all their domestiques.

“On the penultimate climb, they even had to put Sarah Gigante in front, which was exactly what we wanted. However, it wasn't fast enough to keep the UAE rider [Squiban] at bay, so at a certain point we started riding at our own pace. We did what we could.”

In the finale, Vollering’s teammate Juliette Labous clipped away for second place behind the solo stage winner Squiban, who had attacked alone with 32km remaining.

“If the other GC riders responded, then we could try something. Otherwise, she could stay ahead,” Vollering said. “It’s a very good second place for her, and all in all, a good day for us.”

Vollering’s thoughts were echoed by directeur sportif Lars Boom when he spoke to Sporza. The Dutchman suggested that FDJ-Suez’s intention was to increase the general levels of fatigue in the peloton ahead of the demanding finale in the Alps. 

“AG Insurance Soudal and the other teams had to give it their all, while we were perfectly positioned at the front and didn’t need to waste any energy,” Boom said. “That’s only a good thing heading into the tough final weekend.”