Demi Vollering is one of the best-known cyclists in the world. The 28-year-old Dutchwoman, still racing for Team SD Worx – Protime, reached the highest point in her career by winning the second edition of Le Tour de France Femmes, in 2023. By engraving her name in the most important race in the world, Demi placed herself at a restricted level of excellence. In this fast evolution of cycling and sport, Demi managed to establish herself among the best in the world. What sets her apart and what does she aim for in the future?

Ciclismo Mundial Blog came looking for answers to the Web Summit, where Demi Vollering was present as a speaker. On the first full day of the event, Demi attended a panel with Siem de Jong and Koen Bosma, mediated by journalist Miguel Delaney. The four discussed the involvement of athletes during and after their career in the investment world, setting up strategies and ventures that benefit both parties. The next day, Demi was with Brittni Mason and Christine Zonca in a Q&A about wellness and mental health in and beyond women’s sports.

The defeat in the Tour de France Femmes 2024

Going back to what brought us to the event, we had the opportunity to interview Demi Vollering at a small conference. One of the first questions addressed was regarding the Tour de France Femmes 2024. For Demi Vollering, losing by just 4s “was devastating, but it’s also important to look at the numbers and listen to your feelings. After the Tour, I really needed to recover, and mentally needed more time. It is a bit sour for me knowing that I could have won that Tour de France Femmes, but it was a huge lesson for me and that makes me happy.” she said.

From a future perspective, Demi said that the experience will be important for big future goals. For Demi, “the fear of losing was almost bigger than the will of winning. When I lost it, this will of winning became very big again, because that Tour could no longer be won. It allowed me to realize that in the future I need to focus on the will of winning and not on the fear of losing.”

This desire to win became very strong again the following month, at the World Championships. The silver medal in the individual time trial was special, as it was also his second participation in the discipline at a major event. It was “a special achievement” for Demi Vollering because it was also a moment she “worked really hard for.”

(In a message to young athletes who also experience failure) It’s part of life, of course. In the end, you will lose more than you will win, but it‘s in defeat that we learn the most. So, you should also be very grateful for everything that you have lost. There are so many lessons in defeats, and if you have a really good win it means that everything went well. So, there is not much to learn from. Losing fuels the will of winning, but also you can get so many lessons out of these losses.

Demi Vollering

Pre-race habits and rituals

Race days are always intense, and Demi Vollering told us a little about her routine. “I always start my day with 15 minutes of stretching, light core work, and body activation. It’s something I really like because it’s the first moment of my day and allows me to connect my mind to my body. Only after that do I will do breakfast and all the other things.”

The move to FDJ-SUEZ

2025 will be a year of change for Demi Vollering. The Dutchwoman signed for two years with FDJ-SUEZ and will race, for the first time, in a foreign team. Demi told us that it was “a need for change. I needed to get a little bit out of my comfort zone again to search for that part where I could grow. FDJ-SUEZ has a very interesting project, and I felt that there was a click right after the first meeting. I saw a lot of passionate people who were driven to get success, but also to start working with me.”

From the perspective of wanting to win the Tour de France Femmes again, “going to a French team would be something logical, and something that the team would also want. I saw their fire to count with me, so it directly felt really good. And I felt it did something to me. So, it was also a decision I made with my feelings, not only because it was good for me.” From the sponsors’ perspective, “being all French and led by women, was something that also helped.“

In 2025 I hope to be able to win the Tour de France Femmes again. I also want, in the future, to get the World Champion jersey and, in the long term, to also become an Olympic Champion. The Olympic Games are also very special.

Demi Vollering

Also relating the change to a crucial point such as the television broadcast of the races, Demi points out that “women’s sport has gained a lot of fans over the years. There are more and more people who come to us before, during and after the races, and that is great to see. Sometimes it’s difficult to deal with all the attention, but it ends up being a compliment because people are interested in the sport. I’m aware that I’ve become one of the faces of cycling, and I try to use that positively.“

The first career steps and a message for the youngest

Going back in time a little, Demi Vollering’s first great memory comes even before her first professional victory. “Third place in the 2019 Liege – Bastogne – Liege was special. It was my first year as a professional, and I was already there on the podium in Liege. It was the race that made me realize that cycling was where I wanted to be.”

(For the younger ones looking at me) I would say it is very important to enjoy but also to understand the whole journey, that you should enjoy the process of coming towards a goal. In the end, races come and go, but for me it is all about the process. It’s something really special. And this whole building up to a race is actually why you do it. So, you really should love the whole journey towards a race or a goal.

Demi Vollering

Also asking Demi about her references, she revealed to us that “I never really had it. I always looked up to Kobe Bryant, during and after his career, and how he managed to brand himself or to tell his stories. He was a storyteller, and that’s something I find really interesting. So, he is a big inspiration now for me.“

Demi also revealed that she has a small passion for writing. “I have a diary that I use for training-wise, how I’m feeling, what’s going through the mind, but sometimes I also write little stories. Sometimes they’re really big, but other times I can post them on Instagram. Most of the time they’re too long, so then I save everything and hopefully in the future I will do something with it.“

The differences between men and women in cycling

Demi Vollering also addressed the differences she has felt in comparison with men’s cycling. “We, as women, have always needed to fight a little extra for having the same chances as men. This generation of women’s athletes all know this struggle. They all experienced that women’s sport was not really something yet.” In the difference between men’s and women’s, Demi recognizes that “men dare to gamble a little bit more, and women always want to first know everything about something before they will say something about something.“

Making the parallel between the idea and the sponsors’ perspective, Demi exemplified that “if a sponsor approaches women with an idea, they will say yes, but they want to be involved in the entire process. So, they try to figure out what exactly it is and try to do the best for the sponsor. Men maybe are more like, yeah, of course, I do it, and then they just gamble themselves through it. I think that women are very much engaged to sponsors.“

We underestimate a little bit that we should treat women’s sport also a bit differently. I think it’s really important that we get the same chances, but we should not try to copy everything from the men to the women. We should be proud that women’s sport is a bit different. I often hear that people find women’s racing much more interesting to watch than men’s races, because it’s more explosive, for example, but also because the stages or the races are shorter, so we can attack very early. It’s also interesting to see a little bit of difference, but the most important thing is that we get the same chances. I think it’s interesting to get more women-focused sponsorships into the sport.

Demi Vollering

The future of women’s cycling

Taking a final look at the future, we asked Demi Vollering what the next steps in the evolution of women’s cycling might be. For Demi, “the important thing is to get seen, so live broadcast, because at this moment, the level just needs to go up. This means having more riders in the bunch because then we can have more races, and we can have a little bit fewer race days for each rider. This way, we (riders) can have altitude camps and increase the quality of the peloton. We only can get more riders in the bunch if people see us, if they can get inspired by us, so that’s for me the most important. And then to have partnerships who want to be involved in women’s sports.“

Cover photo: Ramsey Cardy/Web Summit via Sportsfile