'Anxiety can make you feel stuck and isolated': Demi Vollering reveals mental health struggles during Tour de France Femmes

Dutch rider says she 'hit a breaking point' during last year's race due to being 'weighed down by pressure'

Demi Vollering
Vollering crosses the line on stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes 2024
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Demi Vollering has opened up on her struggles with mental health during last year’s Tour de France Femmes and says she battled with anxiety on the penultimate stage due to Le Grand Bornand due to being "weighed down by pressure".

Vollering was one of the hot favourites for victory in last year’s race but was involved in a crash on stage five which left her with a fractured tailbone. She also lost the leader’s yellow jersey to the eventual race winner, Kasia Niewiadoma, and found herself more than a minute down in the general classification.

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Tom Thewlis