Defending Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering secured a surprising and impressive time trial victory in Rotterdam, propelling her into the yellow jersey. She beat world champion Chloe Dygert by five seconds and climbed 23 places in the general classification. Despite a puncture thwarting Grace Brown’s hopes, Loes Adegeest set an early impressive time before Vollering took over in the hot seat. Many big names, including Ellen van Dijk and Kristen Faulkner, finished behind Vollering, solidifying her dominant performance.
Dygert initially seemed to be the champion-elect, but Vollering set the fastest time at the first time point and maintained her lead to clinch the victory. Cedrine Kerbaol put in a huge effort to finish fourth, while Dutch sprinters Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos were unable to surpass Vollering’s time. Anniina Ahtosalo finished 38th but retained the young rider classification. Vollering’s victory was confirmed as she claimed the yellow jersey going into an exciting stage four from Valkenburg to Liege, which features eight categorised climbs over 122km, reminiscent of Ardennes Classics races.
With an exciting parcours similar to Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, stage four could favor strong one-day racers. Vollering’s strength in Classics races makes her a tough competitor for this stage. The general classification saw Wiebes move up to second behind Vollering, with Dygert and Adegeest in third and fourth respectively. Kool, who led going into the stage, dropped to fifth. The top five finishers on the final stage in the Netherlands were all Dutch riders. Kool will wear the green jersey on the next stage, with Vos in second.
The stage set the stage for an intense battle among top riders, with Dygert, Faulkner, and Van Dijk among those unable to beat Vollering’s impressive performance. The upcoming stages promise more thrilling competition and opportunities for riders to shine, with Vollering and other top contenders ready to challenge each other. The Tour de France Femmes continues to showcase top-level racing and exciting moments for fans to enjoy. As the competition heats up, the battle for the yellow jersey and other classifications will intensify, ensuring an exciting conclusion to this year’s race. Fans can watch all the action live on Eurosport 1 and discovery+.
