21 things you didn't know about Demi Vollering

Demi Vollering is one of women's cycling's A-list stars, with a palmarès containing everything from major Classics to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

A superb all-round rider in the mould of the great Annemiek van Vleuten, Vollering excels in the hilly stage races and Classics. She spent much of her career at the high-achieving SD Worx team, before switching to French set-up FDJ-Suez for 2025.

She has also been open about her mental health difficulties, which on occasion have come to the fore in high-pressure race scenarios.

But she remains super popular with fans and continues to compete at the highest level – there are almost certainly many more victories to come for the Dutch rider.

1. Demi is not her full name – she was born Adriana Geertruida Vollering.

2. Vollering has always ridden bikes, but also has a speed skating background. She used cycling as part of her skating training, before ditching the ice to concentrate on bike racing.

3. Her sisters Bodine and Nena are also bike racers, with Bodine having just signed a pro contract with the VolkerWessels team.

4. She took her first victory the year she turned pro, winning the very short and sweet prologue at the Festival Elsy Jacobs. She also placed third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and fifth at Flèche Wallonne. Not a bad start.

5. Vollering is an animal lover and has a dog called Flo, one of the rare stabyhoun breed. Flo often appears on her social media posts – sometimes in a backpack as she rides.

6. She is an avid practitioner of yoga and uses it regularly as part of her cycling preparation and recovery, both mental and physical.

7. Her family has a background in the flower industry selling hydrangeas, and Vollering herself is qualified in flower design and worked as a florist before turning pro.

8. One of Vollering's personal creeds is 'Move to Dream'. "When we move… we shake off the noise. We feel strong, alive and inspired," she says on her personal website.

9. She has spoken openly about her mental health, specifically her struggles with anxiety during last year's Tour de France Femmes, where she felt overwhelmed by pressure.

10. After an emotional victory on stage five of this year's Vuelta España Femenina, she dedicated the win to "all the people out there who are finding it tough mentally", in a nod to her own struggles.

11. Vollering excels in stage races, and her GC win tally in smaller such events stretches into double figures.

12. She has won both the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and the Vuelta Femenina, but has not ridden the Giro d'Italia Women since 2021, when she took her best result – third overall.

13. Switzerland has become her home. She moved there early in her career and finds the mountains perfect for training. "I'm loving the Swiss life," she has said.

14. She is probably best known for the time she spent at the SD Worx team, and more recently FDJ-Suez. But her first pro contract was with the Dutch Parkhotel-Valkenberg outfit, with whom she rode in 2019 and 2020, notching up two wins.

15. Vollering has been known to venture off road, and as well as being spotted riding a mountain bike on her social media, has ridden the Gravel World Championships – she was third in 2023 behind winner Kasia Niewiadoma and runner-up Silvia Persico.

16. At the 2023 Strade Bianche, during a solo break, a horse ran on to the course in front of Vollering, who could be heard to scream. However, she eventually passed the errant animal without incident, and went on to win at, um, a canter.

17. She is engaged to long-term partner Jan de Voogd, who is also her manager.

18. Vollering has won numerous races more than once, but she is perhaps most successful at the Itzulia Basque Country stage race. In four editions she has won seven of 12 available stages and won three times.

19. Her professional win tally reached the half-century mark this year (2025) when she won the Vuelta Femenina in May.

20. She loves the outdoors – not just cycling but also cross-country skiing and hiking too. Beyond the physical challenge, she says it helps balance her mentally.

21. An Olympic veteran, Vollering competed on the road at both the Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 Games, with her best result fifth in the Paris time trial.