Startled and limping, Demi Vollering arrived back to her FDJ-SUEZ bus in Angers. She hobbled past the team staff, beyond her turbo trainer, and holding back tears, planted herself into the arms of her partner, who had been waiting anxiously with their dog on a lead. He wrapped a comforting arm around her shredded jersey. The hug, silent, lasted almost a minute.
Stage three was supposed to be a straightforward day at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift for the GC favourite – a routine sprint, where she would stay out of trouble. Instead, on a fast bend inside 4km to go, the Dutchwoman hit the floor in a mass pile-up. She was one of the last to get back on her feet.
The mood at the team bus after the stage was sombre. Yes, Vollering had remounted and made it to the finish line, flanked by her teammates pushing her. Yes, the crash was inside the 5km safety zone, and she hadn’t suffered any time losses. But her condition, dazed and battered, struck fear in her team.
“She’s completely shocked,” said FDJ-SUEZ manager Stephen Delcourt. “She has pain in her knee, pain in her glutes, and pain in her back. We need to wait, because we never know if it’s just a shock because she crashed and she needs time.”
After climbing slowly onto her turbo trainer, Vollering spun her legs as she examined the extent of her injuries. She looked down at her skinned elbow, and held her lower back, the same area she suffered a fracture at last year’s race. She then checked her helmet, worried to have hit her head.
“We have the concussion check, but we want another one in an hour,” Delcourt said. “She’s really positive, she wants to continue, but we just need time to go to the hotel, exam[ine], go to the hospital, and after one night, we can come back to you and tell you.”
There was also frustration breaking through the FDJ-SUEZ manager’s voice. Unprompted, and without singling out any specific teams or riders, he opened up his concern about what he felt caused the crash.
“I just want to say,” Delcourt began, “it’s not normal the attitude of many teams and many riders. They are disrespectful. We lost the respect in the last year in men’s and women’s cycling. How is it possible everybody wants to play with their life like this?
“You can see during the stage, we are always at the front. Demi says, ‘I want to be at the front’, and many teams are really [dis]resepectful. They cut the line, etc. ASO, this morning, said to all the teams, ‘Please, respect the motos. They need to come back to the front for the safety of the riders.’ Today it’s the fault of the riders – it’s not the fault of ASO. Now it’s time to respect, and to respect the safety of everyone.”
Vollering, too, spoke in frustrated tones as she warmed down with her teammates. All of the FDJ-SUEZ riders were spared the task of speaking to the media by their team press officer.
“There’s a big frustration for Demi first, because she wants to win this Tour de France,” Delcourt said. “We work a lot for the Tour de France, and Demi has worked a lot herself for that. We just want to respect the woman before the rider. Now she just needs time and we want to continue to be positive.”
The first flash of optimism arrived minutes after Delcourt finished speaking. Vollering stepped down from the team bus and, given the option to drive or to ride back to her hotel, reached for her bike. She then got back in the saddle and pedalled away up the road.
The favourite may have been shaken, but she’s still in the race yet.
