Demi Vollering sat in entrance of the worldwide press with all smiles and an air of confidence as she answered questions on her yellow-jersey defence on the upcoming Tour de France Femmes that begins on Monday on house soil in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
She mentioned that whereas she feels stronger than final yr, she is going to wait till the race hits the mountains earlier than making any predictions about her possibilities of successful two total titles in a row on the finale stage 8 atop Alpe d’Huez.
“I really feel good. I’m excited and I instructed the women this morning, ‘I’m too hyped, I have to chill out’. It’s particular for me. All of my associates, household, and shut ones are excited to get it began, so I’m very motivated,” Vollering mentioned.
She arrived in Rotterdam after competing on the Olympic Games in Paris, the place she completed fifth within the particular person time trial and thirty fourth within the street race after supporting her compatriot Marianne Vos to the silver medal.
She has not competed in a stage race since successful the Tour de Suisse in June, the newest of a stage-race-winning streak that additionally included securing total titles on the Tour de Romandie, La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women, and Vuelta a Burgos.
“I do not know if I’m stronger than final yr. I believe, for certain, a bit. But we have to see that within the race as a result of it has been fairly a while since I did lengthy climbs, for instance, so I have to see the way it goes within the final a part of the Tour,” she mentioned.
The third version of the Tour de France Femmes will host eight phases over seven days between August 12 and August 18. The race is ready to start out within the Netherlands, journey south into Liège, Belgium, after which into France, ending atop the fabled Alpe d’Huez.
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For some riders, it has been a jam-packed summer time schedule that has taken the skilled girls’s peloton throughout the Giro d’Italia, the Paris Olympic Games and the Tour de France Femmes. Vollering opted to skip the Giro and as an alternative focussed on altitude coaching in her camper van, additionally visiting key factors of the Tour de France course forward of her principal targets on the Olympics and Tour.
“I did an excellent altitude camp for 3 weeks earlier than the Olympics, after which we had the Olympics, so it was a bit of bit totally different than I usually have; usually, I’d focus solely on the Tour and have an enormous coaching block for the Tour, however now we had the Olympics in between, and that made it a bit of bit totally different,” Vollering mentioned.
“We had two weeks [ahead of the Olympics] to relaxation earlier than the time trial and the street race, so it was a bit like, ‘how do I try this finest?’ since you wish to relaxation but additionally wish to practice exhausting in between. I hope I’ve good legs this week.”
She felt that the peloton might be stronger on the Tour de France Femmes than it was on the Olympic Games, primarily as a result of the Games had smaller discipline sizes with riders competing for his or her nationwide groups, and never all riders competed in each occasions.
“That is the way it feels. You really feel that everybody is happy to return to the Tour de France and everyone seems to be focussed on it. Quite a lot of women have been at altitude camp earlier than and everyone seems to be attempting to be on their finest on this interval, additionally to take the Olympics with it,” she mentioned.
“But there should not so many women right here on the beginning line for GC, for instance, who additionally did the Olympics. Lots, however not all. It will likely be fascinating to see if this can affect the shape for some riders on this Tour.”
Still, she named a couple of of her principal rivals within the common classification: Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Kasia Niewiadoma and Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM), Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) that she and SD Worx-Protime teammates will preserve an in depth eye on when the race heads towards the mountains.
Part of her altitude and pre-Tour de France coaching included driving up Alpe d’Huez, which she mentioned she did 3 times as a part of Alpe d’HuZes, an occasion hosted by the Netherlands to lift cash within the struggle in opposition to most cancers.
“It was particular. The first time I did it was two or three days earlier than the occasion that we referred to as Alpe d’HuZes. It’s an enormous occasion in Holland to lift cash for most cancers charities. It’s a particular feeling as a result of all of the individuals come there with a narrative. They all go up the mountain for members of the family of family members they misplaced because of most cancers. A particular feeling was within the air, and I’ll have this in my ideas when racing up there,” Vollering mentioned.
As for the beginning in Rotterdam, the location of the primary three phases, Vollering revealed that it’s a particular place with reminiscences of her earlier profession as a florist, talking with native farmers and greenhouses, all earlier than she signed knowledgeable contract to race bikes in 2019.
“All my household and associates will likely be there. I additionally grew up subsequent to the greenhouses with the flowers. Tomorrow we’ll see [the greenhouses and flowers] so much as a result of we come by means of this a part of Holland the place they’ve quite a lot of greenhouses for both flowers or greens,” Vollering mentioned.
“A number of years in the past, after I was nonetheless a flower pupil, I got here to the greenhouses. I do know quite a lot of them as a result of I’d ask in the event that they needed to sponsor us for varsity initiatives and stuff like that.
“It’s humorous to be right here on this method once more on this space. It seems like a unique lifetime; me as a pupil asking farmers for flowers and me as a bicycle owner coming by means of this space; it makes me proud.”
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