‘I’m very disappointed in myself’ – Demi Vollering loses minutes on Tour de France Femmes stage eight

At the summit of the Col de la Madeleine, 2,000m in the sky, Demi Vollering tosses her bike across the finish line. The FDJ-SUEZ leader, the pre-race favourite, has won a two-up sprint against Fenix-Deceuninck’s Yara Kastelijn. Breathless and exhausted, she bows her head over her handlebars. There will be no victory celebrations, though. The dash was for fourth place.

Above the two riders, on the gantry, the clock ticks to three minutes and three seconds; it’s the time Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has had to celebrate her win on the Queen stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and start to come to terms with the fact that she is now the yellow jersey. It’s also the time that Vollering has lost to her GC rival, a gap that will be difficult to overcome on the final day.