Demi Vollering finding form for Tour of Flanders, with half an eye on the Ardennes

Dutchwoman has never won in Oudenaarde, but is still getting back to race pace after altitude training

14:07, Friday 29th March 2024

Matilda Price

Racing News Editor

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Demi Vollering is still looking for her first win of the campaign

With SD Worx-Protime making it clear that they have several cards to play in the Tour of Flanders, attention will be on Demi Vollering as well as defending champion Lotte Kopecky, though the Dutchwoman was understated about her form.

Vollering is just returning to racing after a block of altitude training, and had a disappointing day at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. However, though she’s never won it, it seems obvious that the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner should be in the conversation for victory on Sunday.

“I find it hard to say, because yesterday I was really unlucky with everything, so that's what makes you doubt or something,” Vollering said when asked if Flanders was a race she could win, in a conversation with GCN and Cyclingnews on Thursday.

“But Sunday is a totally new day again, so I just need to see how the form is on that day. I will feel probably pretty fast once the race has started and we've done some hills, then for sure I can say after the first hills how the form is, and if I can do it that day.

“Today in the recon not so good, but that's always after a race, you always feel the fatigue in the legs,” Vollering said of her form and feeling.

“If I pushed really hard on some sections it was good, so I don't have something to worry about. It's always after altitude that you need to wait a little bit [to see] how the legs are, then you will see in the race, because it can change really fast day by day.”

Vollering has yet to win in 2024, though she has only raced three times, and it’s not unusual for the Dutchwoman to only kickstart her tally in late March or April. However, the more lowkey start to the season is on her mind before Flanders.

“It feels a bit strange, because last year I had already two wins by now, and also yesterday was a pretty big change for me – from being number one in that race to chasing to the last group,” she explained. “In my head, I was like 'wow this is a pretty big difference, not so nice' but in the end, it's racing and every race is totally different. They always say you're only as good as the last race you did, so we start over again. I also try to not think too much of last year's races.”

Looking ahead to the Ardennes

If the immediate come down from altitude has been a slight shock to the system for Vollering, it’s still worth it for the 27-year-old, who has followed the same pattern for the last few seasons, and knows it will pay off in the races to come.

“For the last four years I have always done an altitude block directly after Strade, and I really like it because normally the Ardennes are really a goal for me, so that's what I'm focusing on and that's a perfect place for an altitude block,” she said.

“I want to be good here, in Flanders, but also I want to be good in the Ardennes, so it's not that I only peak here and not in the Ardennes – for me now I try both.”

Though the cobbled Classics and the Ardennes can seem very different, especially with Paris-Roubaix splitting them up on the calendar, the approach is not that different for a strong climber like Vollering.

“I don't train so differently for this race than for those races. Now we have cobbles and in the other races not, but still, the intensity is a little bit the same. So I don't train differently, I did some short efforts and some sprints a little bit more than normally, but not much different.”

An unpredictable race with strong competition

Vollering will hope for better luck than on Wednesday at the Tour of Flanders

Whether Vollering can be in the mix depends partly on her form, but also heavily on the way the race plays out, which is just as hard to predict as how her legs might feel on the day.

“Today was really windy, but I think Sunday is not so windy, so then probably the wind will not play a role. So I don't know yet how the race will play out,” she said.

“Normally there's still a pretty big group towards the Koppenberg, but last year from then on it was a really strange situation, but really good for us. If it's a little bit wet maybe again [it will go] that way, so then it will be again a fight for that climb.”

Though the team’s confidence may not be as sky-high as it has been in previous years after Wednesday’s disappointment, they’re certain they have options – Lorena Wiebes and Marlen Reusser are serious contenders, as well as Kopecky and Vollering – and have the luxury to be able to change tactics and leaders as the race evolves.

Even still, they’re well aware of their competition, and who could threaten to end their reign at the Tour of Flanders.

“Lidl-Trek has a really strong team, and they made it difficult already in the last races for us, but then also Marianne [Vos], she's showed herself already a few times, that she's really in a good form, so she's also for sure a rider we really need to watch in this race, because she can handle all the small climbs pretty well and then also has a really strong sprint. She's someone we really need to watch.”

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