He could not last May in the Vuelta a España, by just nine seconds, and neither in the previous edition of the Tour de France, the first women's, but this Saturday Demi Vollering definitively dethroned the great dominator of women's cycling in the last decade, Annemiek Van Vleuten, and sealed her overall victory in the French round with an exhibition in the seventh stage that ended in the Tourmalet, probably the most iconic place in the sport of cycling.
The 26-year-old Dutchwoman jumped out of the favorite group with just over five kilometers to go to the top and no one could follow her to the finish line, neither was her 40-year-old compatriot from Movistar, who tried in vain to follow her wheel. A reflection of the generational change that is coming.
Vollering passed Katarzyna Niewiadoma in a flash, who was riding solo from the descent at the previous pass, the Col d'Aspin. The Pole finished second, almost two minutes behind the leader of SD Worx and Van Vleuten, who kept third place overall in extremis, finished third at two minutes and 34 seconds. The furniture was saved by what was the surprising leader of the race, the Belgian Lotte Kopecky, a track specialist, who kept the yellow on the mountain until Vollering's final attack and, fourth overall, could still reach the podium in the last stage.
The final time trial in Pau will decide the second and third positions on the podium, but the highest step has its owner, already in the hands of a Vollering who has one minute and 50 seconds to rent, except for a catastrophe that is more than enough to finally achieve his first win in a major round after several attempts knocking on the door.
After four changes of pace by Jabous, none of them successful, the one born in Pijnacker gave the final blow. Coldly. Calculating the moment. Controlling the distance with Niewiadoma. Watching her rivals in the group, measuring her strength. Vollering changed the chainring on her bike at the perfect time, when there was no sign of a reaction from the other cyclists. His cadence was already synonymous with victory, far superior to that of his fleeting companions, soon lost in the thick fog that invaded the mythical Alpine port.
As his teacher Van Vleuten had taught him well, this Saturday his victim, Vollering focused on keeping up without looking back. His only doubt was whether he was going to collapse on the last slopes of the Tourmalet. In no case, rather the opposite. The Dutchwoman did not stop opening up an advantage over Niewiadoma and her company, including the Spanish Ane Santesteban, seventh overall and dropped before the yellow jersey group, who reached the top after more than five minutes.
Vollering appeared at the finish line out of nowhere, slowly drawing his figure out of the thick fog that made his performance even more epic. The one from SD Worx got off the bike in ecstasy, between exhaustion and tears of emotion that could not hide the happiness of a historic day for his career, perhaps the first of many.
