Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) added a second Grand Tour victory to her palmarès on Sunday, triumphing at the Vuelta Femenina.
The Dutchwoman, who already led by 52 seconds going into the eighth and final stage, attacked with 6km to go on the finishing climb, and soloed to a second stage win. Her climbing heroics meant she dominated the general classification, securing the red jersey by one minute and 49 seconds.
Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished second overall, overtaking Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), who closed out the podium in third.
Vollering's victory comes a year after she ended the Vuelta Femenina in tears, having come agonisingly close to the title in 2023, when she lost out to the now retired Annemiek van Vleuten by just nine seconds.
The scene this time round was a world apart. After weaving across the road smiling, Vollering stepped off her bike after the line in Madrid, and lifted it above her head, champion at last.
"It's really nice," the 27-year-old said post-race. "The team did a really good job all day. I was a bit nervous because I thought this last climb was not so super hard. It's difficult because it was again a headwind and it was not super steep.
"There was one part where we turned a bit," she continued. "There, I thought I needed to attack and have a gap so that the rest will also have a headwind to chase me back."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
(Image credit: Getty Images)
When Vollering upped the tempo, nobody else could follow. As she did on stage five – when she took her first victory of the season – the Dutchwoman sailed clear of her rivals, crossing the line alone. Behind, stage six's winner Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) came home with Markus 30 seconds later.
"I'm really happy to win this stage," Vollering said. "It's really nice to finish off like this. We did a really good tour here: some podiums, two stage wins. I think we can be really proud of ourselves."
Asked what the victory meant to her, the Tour de France Femmes champion said it marked a "good start" to her season. "I hope I can do some other really nice stage races, of course," she said. "I'm looking very much forward to the rest of the season."
Vollering also sealed the mountains classification, as the race's best climber. Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), winner of two stages, wrapped up the points classification, while Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) was declared the most combative rider.
Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and holds a master's degree in International Journalism. Since 2020, he has been the host of The TT Podcast, offering race analysis and rider interviews.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill, and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides. His best result is 28th in a hill-climb competition, albeit out of 40 entrants.
