'They were at their limit' – Vollering's team defend Ventoux strategy at Tour Femmes

Demi Vollering eventually managed to drop Marlen Reusser in the final kilometre of Mont Ventoux, but the yellow jersey had already passed to the shoulders of Kasia Niewiadoma by the time she reached the finish of stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes.

Niewiadoma had attacked alone with 9km of the mighty mountain still to go, and Vollering and Reusser initially seemed more concerned with marking one another than tracking the Canyon-SRAM rider’s move.

As Mont Ventoux drew on, however, Niewiadoma’s class began to tell, and she extended her lead in the headwind on the exposed upper reaches of the climb. Vollering ripped clear of Reusser with 500m to go to take second on the stage, 1:16 behind Niewiadoma, but she couldn’t prevent the Pole from moving into yellow.

Although Vollering moved ahead of Reusser in the standings, the 2023 Tour winner remains second overall with two days remaining, 15 seconds down on Niewiadoma.

Speaking to Sporza at the finish, FDJ United-Suez sports director Lars Boom downplayed the idea that Vollering had frittered away the yellow jersey by placing too much emphasis on her duel with Reusser.

“Were Marlen and Demi playing poker? I think they were both at their limit,” Boom said. “I think Demi struggled for a long time, although she did make a good comeback in the final kilometre.”

Vollering put 30 seconds into Reusser with her late acceleration, and she also ate into her sizeable deficit to Niewiadoma. Boom insisted, however, that the conditions on the exposed part of Mont Ventoux meant she was unable to attack any sooner than the final kilometre.

“No, the section before that isn’t that steep and they had a headwind there, so that makes it even harder,” Boom said. “We know Demi has a good finish. The goal was to tackle the last kilometre to distance others, and there was only one person left ahead.”

Vollering’s teammate Célia Gery had set the tempo at the foot of the climb before the Dutchwoman attacked with 11km remaining, with Reusser and Niewiadoma the only riders who could follow her initial surge.

When Vollering slowed to check on Reusser with 9km to go, Niewiadoma seized the opportunity to attack. The 2024 Tour Femmes champion later explained that her strategy was to build a lead before Chalet Reynard, reasoning that the chasers would not collaborate smoothly in the headwind that followed.

Two years ago, Vollering lost the Tour Femmes by just four seconds to Niewiadoma when her late fightback on Alpe d’Huez fell agonisingly short. The pre-race favourite will now seek to dislodge the Pole on the rugged terrain in the hinterland of Nice on the final weekend of the Tour Femmes.

“We never give up,” Boom said. “Tomorrow will be another very tough day. Perhaps it will suit Demi better than today.”

Speaking to NOS, Vollering later admitted she may have missed the moment to respond to Niewiadoma’s decisive attack.

“I made my move and Kasia cleverly countered straight away. I should have closed it down immediately, but I hoped I could jump away from Marlen and then bridge across to Kasia. Unfortunately, that didn’t work.”

Vollering also questioned whether she should have attacked Reusser sooner, although the headwind played into her decision to wait.

“Probably I couldn’t have done it either,” she said. “Afterwards you start to question it. I felt like I should have tried earlier. In the end Kasia wins, and that is incredibly impressive.”

With just 15 seconds to make up, Vollering remains defiant: “It’s not over until it’s over.”