Vollering hails teammates for victory in women's Tour de France

Freshly crowned women's Tour de France winner Demi Vollering from the Netherlands paid tribute to her SD Worx teammates for her achievement at the 2023 course through France.

Demi Vollering (centre) celebrates winning the 2023 women's Tour de France cycling race with second-placed Lotte Kopecky (left) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (right) who finished third. AP

The 26-year-old Dutchwoman completed the eight-stage 959.9km Tour de France race in 25 hours, 17 minutes and 35 seconds.

Teammate Lotte Kopecky was second just over three minutes behind and Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who rides for Canyon/Sram Racing, was third. The 28-year-old Pole also won the polka-dot jersey as the best climber.

"We’ve had lots of ups, also some downs, and we showed how strong our team is and how motivated we are to get the best out of each day, to fight for the wins," said Vollering on Sunday after her victory.

Kopecky, who claimed the collected the green jersey for best sprinter had led the race from the start on 23 July in Clermont-Ferrand but Vollering seized the leader's yellow jersey from the 27-year-old Belgian during Stage 7. 

She finished the 89.8 kilometres between Lannemezan and Tourmalet-de-Bigorre in two hours, 52 minutes and 43 seconds.

Change

Kopecky, who was more than three and a half minutes behind, dropped to fourth place in the overall rankings while Niewiadoma rose from fifth to second.

During the final stage time trial through Pau, Kopecky moved back up to second. But Vollering finished the 22.6km sweep around the city in second place – 10 seconds behind teammate Marlene Reusser – and 28 seconds ahead of Kopecky.

"I'm very happy with this result," said Reusser. "I was aiming for this time and to be honest, I'm a bit in shock at our team's accomplishments.

"We knew how strong we are coming here but to conclude like this with a one-two-three is crazy.

Race

"Going full gas for myself and winning is important for me and it makes it nicer. I'm friends with Demi and I knew the deal was to help her and give up on my own ambitions."

Vollering, who joined SD Worx in 2021 after a year with the Dutch outfit Parkhotel Valkenburg Cycling Team, acknowledged the competition within SD Worx.

"We make each other stronger. I love to see it, and I think it’s nice for the world to see you can conquer everything with good people around you. It inspires me a lot."