‘It was really difficult to deal with’ - Célia Gery opens up after Tour Femmes online abuse
Célia Gery has spoken publicly for the first time about the wave of online abuse she received following the controversial finale of stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, describing the experience as “really difficult to deal with”.
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The 20-year-old French champion became the target of hateful messages and, according to members of FDJ United-Suez, death threats after Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney accused her of deliberately blocking her against the barriers moments before Demi Vollering launched the attack that ultimately put her into the yellow jersey.
Speaking to DirectVelo after Sunday’s final stage in Nice, Gery admitted the incident and its aftermath had taken a significant emotional toll.
“It was really difficult to deal with yesterday, but well... That’s how it is,” she said.
Gery nevertheless returned to racing on Sunday and once again played an important role for Vollering, who went on to seal overall victory and her second Tour de France Femmes title.
“Today it feels really good to finish like this,” Gery said. “It gives me even more happiness and pleasure that Demi wins given everything that happened alongside it.”
The emotions eventually caught up with Gery once Vollering’s victory was secure, with the Frenchwoman reduced to tears after the finish as the pressure of a turbulent final weekend began to lift.
Vollering: ‘It affected her deeply"
At the post race press conference, Vollering turned attention away from her own victory to speak about the abuse directed at Gery.
“I should have told her not to go on social media yesterday evening, but by the time I said it, it was already too late,” Vollering said.
“She received a lot of disgusting messages. It made me very angry, especially because she is still such a young woman and she should have been protected from these stupid actions from people who write without thinking.
“It is very sad to see people sending those kinds of messages. It was very hard for Célia. It affected her deeply.”
FDJ sports director Lars Boom had already revealed before the final stage that Gery had received death threats and was being “completely torn apart” online.
After the final stage, Niewiadoma-Phinney approached FDJ sports director Lars Boom to apologise for how the situation had unfolded.
“Congrats! I talked with Demi and I'm sorry that it turned out to be like this,” she told Boom, who replied: “You know I'm not like this and you know also that we are not like this.”
The exchange struck a markedly different tone from the previous 24 hours and appeared to bring the dispute to a close.
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