With Annemiek van Vleuten retiring on the finish of 2023, the highlight is on defending Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering greater than ever. On the high of her recreation with few authentic challengers, the 27-year-old should now determine methods to derive motivation within the absence of their rivalry.
“I do know {that a} rivalry is all the time good since you all the time attempt to be the perfect you all the time wish to be, to beat the perfect. That is a transparent objective. However I additionally know … within the coming season, I’ll most likely be the rider who most ladies wish to beat. So that is once more, one thing totally different. And I have to see how this feels within the races and the way that goes,” she says.
“But additionally this shall be one thing totally different once more, however I feel I discovered from that … it wasn’t Annemiek being the perfect final yr. If it was, for instance, Elisa Longo Borghini, then she was the one all of us wish to beat.
“That is additionally one thing new for me, after all. However that is additionally one thing that I would like to search out out. I imply, I wish to keep the perfect, so it is a huge motivation for me. I wish to carry on successful,” she says.
Nonetheless, Vollering is eager to take the stress off attaining particular outcomes and prefers to focus as an alternative on sustaining a constructive setting throughout the staff and in her personal life.
“I’ve only a actually good staff round me the place I can belief and I feel additionally I have to focus lots on having enjoyable with the women after which I hope all the things else can even come a little bit bit with it. Simply having fun with my time with the staff and people issues after which for those who’re feeling good, the steadiness is correct between like the game you do like coaching lots but in addition feeling good, feeling completely happy,” she says.
“If all the things is correct and the staff and stuff then then I feel it is simpler. Then you do not actually assume, ‘I can’t lose in the present day’ or ‘I actually need to win’. Then it is simply making numerous enjoyable within the race collectively and trusting that it’ll have an excellent finish.”
Vollering is correct to not relaxation on her laurels, the extent throughout the ladies’s peloton is rising yearly and different riders are shortly catching as much as her.
“I feel I am rising however the others are additionally rising. And that is additionally good. In ladies’s biking, you see lots that the extent goes up, up, up, up. So that you by no means know,” she says. “Additionally some riders final yr had numerous dangerous luck, for instance, Elisa Longo Borghini who would usually be a giant rival for me within the races. Kasia [Niewiadoma] already confirmed for instance within the Gravel World Championships, that she is in good condition and that she can be a rider to be careful for.”
Whereas others have already began their season in Australia or Mallorca, and a few of her teammates will head to the UAE in a number of weeks, Vollering says she is going to wait till Het Nieuwsblad to start out her 2024 season. Her programme for this yr will look similar to final with a Classics marketing campaign in addition to La Vuelta earlier than an altitude camp as a build-up to the Olympics and Tour de France Femmes.
Her teammate, Lotte Kopecky, has already reserved the proper to not race the Tour ought to the Olympics show too strenuous, however Vollering says she is buoyed by the prospect of a house Grand Départ: “For me, it helps lots that the Tour de France begins this yr in Holland. This shall be so particular for me that even when I am drained after the Olympics I’ll have numerous motivation to go to the Tour after that,” she says.
“So I am not so terrified of this however that is simply because I feel the Tour de France shall be not so troublesome for me to search out motivation for. However it’s for positive a problem as a result of it is fairly quick after one another.”
For now, Vollering continues to be recovering from a rollercoaster winter off the again of a whirlwind season with highlights together with the Ardennes triple and Tour de France Femmes title.
“My winter was fairly busy. So possibly the sensation will not be but pretty much as good as final season within the winter. However then it is nonetheless January so I can’t say but. You actually really feel within the first race how your kind actually is. However I feel it is nonetheless getting into the proper path and nonetheless going a little bit bit up. I hope so,” she says.
