'I had to dare to lose it all' - How Vollering staged a dramatic Giro comeback

The European Champion had claimed victory on Saturday's shortened Queen stage atop the Colle delle Finestre, but the route alteration limited her opportunity to make significant GC gains with time running out. Post-victory on Saturday, Vollering admitted she was initially disappointed, viewing the result as a missed opportunity despite the stage win.

However, Vollering and her team knew they had to quickly put that frustration behind them with one final chance left to strike. 

“Yesterday evening, Lars [Boom], our DS, and Lieselot [Decroix] came to our table when we were having dinner, and they started to joke a little bit, like, ‘Prepare yourself, because tomorrow's going to be a very long and very big day for all of us,’” said Vollering in her post-race interview as the newly crowned Giro champion. “And the girls, they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, let's go.’”

FDJ United-Suez set a punishing tempo on the stern Category 1 Montoso climb, whittling the peloton down to an elite group of seven that included both Vollering and Van der Breggen.

“From the start on, they were on fire. They really tried to be in the breakaway, that didn't happen, but then my teammates directly put a pace on this long first climb,” said Vollering. “And yeah, Lauren [Dickson], she was amazing today. She kept going, and then we made it over the top with a small group.”

Over the summit, Vollering and Van der Breggen became locked in a tactical chess match. This stalemate allowed a dangerous trio to break clear: Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), and Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//Sram), the latter sitting third overall at just 1:20 off the race lead.

Such was the stalemate between Vollering and Van der Breggen, Niedermaier briefly found herself in the race lead. Vollering later admitted that she felt she needed to be willing to lose the race in order to win it. 

“Today was all about daring to lose. I had to dare to lose it all. So I was able to, and yeah, I let Antonia [Niedermaier] go away and I was like to Anna [van der Breggen], ‘I'm fine with also third, because second or third doesn't matter to me',” explained Vollering.

With the help of Dickson, Vollering and Van der Breggen reached the final climb, the Colletta di Brondello, within a bridgeable distance of the front trio. 

The European champion launched an explosive acceleration with 39km to go, which the race leader was briefly able to match before the elastic snapped. Vollering crested the climb with an advantage of around 20 seconds, and it took the European Champion just over 10km to bridge to the front trio. 

“And then I have to try to drop her [Van der Breggen] somewhere, and I really went all in on the last climb. I knew that was like the time trial of my life I had to do there, and then it was still so long to finish, but I did it, we did it, and I still can not believe it.”

Even as her lead over the isolated Van der Breggen grew on the road to Saluzzo, Vollering refused to celebrate early as the immense physical toll of her effort began to set in.

“Well, I only dared to dream of it when I already had two minutes because, also, like, I had cramp everywhere, like in my legs,” Vollering admitted. “With still 20km to go, I was like, ‘I hope I make it to the finish line.’ But the group I was in was working really well together and, yeah, it was quite a fast terrain, so I was like, ‘Okay, I think this might work.’"

“And then I just, I was flying. It gave me wings today to have the thought that it was maybe possible. As soon as I had a gap on Anna [van der Breggen], I was like, ‘Okay, now I really need to give everything I have.’”

Vollering headed the leading quartet under the flamme rouge before the sprint was launched and Elisa Longo Borghini took the spoils. Meanwhile, Vollering was able to celebrate a stunning comeback with Niedermaier and Van der Breggen joining the European Champion on the final podium.

By completing the Grand Tour trilogy alongside Annemiek van Vleuten, the new Giro champion acknowledged her future ambitions for the Tour de France while staying grounded by her most recent achievement. 

“Of course, I dream of the Tour de France, but first, I should enjoy this one, because I also know how easy it is to lose a Grand Tour. Sometimes I think it's really normal to win, almost, but I also know it's not normal.”