With the last answer in her runner-up press conference, Demi Vollering had the final say on the war of words that has played out behind the scenes of this year's Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, saying she’s noticed a “stigma" around her that she's "a little bit of a drama queen".
Tension first flared at the race when Vollering’s FDJ-SUEZ team boss Stephen Delcourt complained of a lack of respect in the peloton, after the Dutchwoman was brought down in a pile-up on stage three.
Delcourt’s comments were then dubbed “ridiculous” by Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Jos van Emden, who in turn accused Vollering of believing she’s in a “gilded cage”.
“[Delcourt]’s just been influenced by Demi – by her dramatic behaviour,” Van Emden told De Telegraaf. “Demi really thinks she's in a gilded cage. Yes, she's the best cyclist. But that doesn't mean everyone should make way for her.”
Asked how she responded to Van Emden's remarks during her closing press conference in Châtel, Vollering said: “I’m being hunted for this, I think a little bit. Especially in the Netherlands, I have the feeling I have this stigma around me that I’m a little bit of a drama queen. But in the end, I think, if you ask my teammates, they will always say different.
“I think it’s also someone who doesn’t know me who says something like this. I cannot blame [Van Emden], because he doesn’t know me, so he can say that from the outside.”
For the second edition in a row, Vollering finished runner-up at the Tour de France Femmes, having won the race in 2023. Last year, she missed out by four seconds to Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto). In this year’s edition, she came in at almost four minutes behind the runaway winner, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
“Everything went really well as a team, so I'm really proud of that, and at this moment, that makes me very happy,” Vollering said.
The Dutchwoman added that she will now go “back to the drawing board” in her pursuit of returning to the top step. “This Tour de France was maybe a bit more for the pure, pure climbers,” she said. “But you don't know what's next year, so never say never.”
