Demi Vollering seals Tour de France Femmes title as her crew dominates race

The Netherlands’ Demi Vollering sealed her first ever Tour de France Femmes title on Sunday shaking her head in disbelief as she crossed the end line.

She took total victory by three minutes and three seconds forward of her SD Worx teammate Lotte Kopecky,

“I nonetheless can’t consider it. Exhausting work, but it surely’s not simply working laborious, it’s believing in it. It’s a lot,” Vollering mentioned afterward, based on CyclingNews.

“In the long run, you have got a dream and you’re employed actually laborious for it, however you retain your self a bit calm. It is advisable discover a good stability in your life, and the way you are able to do it, discover a relaxed strategy to do all this. I believe this yr I really feel actually secure, good in what I’m doing. I really feel like all the pieces comes collectively, it’s simply a tremendous season for me.”

One other teammate, Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser, gained the ultimate day’s time trial stage whereas Vollering completed second, finishing a stunning race for SD Worx who gained the yellow jersey, inexperienced jersey, crew classification and 4 of the race’s eight phases.

Nevertheless, it was not a completely easy race for ladies’s biking most dominant crew.

A lot was made from a 20-second penalty that Vollering obtained on Stage 4 for drafting behind her crew automobile whereas returning to the peloton after a puncture.

Vollering completed second on Stage 8’s time trial. – Alex Broadway/Velo/Getty Photographs

However in the long run, none of that mattered. Vollering merely rode away from her rivals and successfully secured the yellow jersey on Stage 7, climbing up the fearsome Col du Tourmalet with solely the digital camera and police motorbikes for firm, their headlights blazing by means of the fog.

She gained that stage, essentially the most tough and mountainous within the race, by nearly two minutes, consigning her compatriot, longtime rival and final yr’s champion Annemiek van Vleuten to defeat.

Van Vleuten, who has already introduced that she’s going to retire on the finish of the yr, completed in fourth within the normal classification whereas Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma rounded out the general podium in third.

For extra CNN information and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .