Vollering says 'déjà vu' vision came true after taking yellow on Tour Femmes stage 8

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) has said that she had a vision of taking the yellow jersey in Nice, months before she accomplished it on stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes.

The Dutchwoman said a feeling from January, when she had been on the Tour route for a reconnaissance, came back to her on Saturday morning.

She had previously pictured herself taking yellow on stage 8 into Nice, a thought that felt so random at the time that she had forgotten about it.

However, on Saturday morning as she trailed Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM) by 15 seconds in the contest for yellow, the feeling returned. 

“The funny thing is that, this morning, I suddenly realised, like, I had a kind of déjà vu,” Vollering said after winning stage 8 in Nice. 

“I somehow saw this flashback in front of my eyes that I would take yellow here, but it didn't make sense in my eyes, so also, I directly forgot about this.

“It was weird. But then, this morning, this déjà vu came kind of back, and I was like, maybe it's true, maybe it was really, like, how it should be.”

Vollering turned the feeling into action when the European champion launched her decisive attack on the short, sharp final ascent into Nice. 

Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD) initially responded, but Vollering kicked again shortly before the summit and finally broke clear.

The European stayed away on the descent and through the fast run-in to Nice to win the stage by 17 seconds, taking an eight-second lead over Niewiadoma-Phinney with one stage remaining.

The victory came after Vollering had been disappointed the previous day, shipping significant time to Niewiadoma-Phinney on Mont Ventoux, but she said she had to put that feeling aside and start again.

“You just need to do it. I mean, at a stage race, you live day by day. So you can be disappointed overnight, but then the next morning, you need to put on a new mask, and you go again.”

En route to her second stage win of the 2026 Tour, Vollering acknowledged that her success was just as much down to her mentality as the strength in her legs.

“And I tried to remember myself during the race, that I can do it. We can do it, and that we at least have to try and dig so deep, like, go through so much pain,” she said.

Now Vollering has one final 99.2km stage around Nice remaining to defend the yellow jersey and complete the vision she had months ago, and become a two-time Tour champion.

“Still, everything can happen on the last day, but at least I start in yellow tomorrow, and that's already a dream coming true.”