Demi Vollering wins a lot. But when FDJ-Suez’s star spoke to T.V. camera’s after Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège solo win, it was immediately clear this one meant just a little bit more. The European Champion showed a rare bit of emotion, sharing what her personal connection to the race shows just how far women’s pro cycling has come.
“Women’s cycling deserves so much more”
When asked what her win meant to her, since Vollering had already won Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice, the Dutch racer pulled no punches.
“I really wanted to win here again, I really love this race and it brings back so many good memories for me,” Vollering told cameras. “When I was still a club rider, riding here without even having a women’s race, I was already dreaming about it without knowing if there would ever be a women’s race.”
While L-B-L is one of the oldest men’s races on the calendar, a women’s race didn’t happen until 2017.
“We finally got a race. I became a pro. And I win for the third time here, it’s incredible. I’m super proud,” Vollering continued.
Then, after a pause to regain a her composure just a bit, Vollering added:
“Women’s cycling deserves so much more.”
While there are many aspects of women’s professional cycling that Vollering could be referring to, her statement comes directly on the heels of a controversial cut to the broadcast length of the women’s Paris-Roubaix (the men’s broadcast time remained its usual length).
All out from Le Redoute
Vollering’s third Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory was a stunning solo effort. The FDJ-Suez star attacked hard on Le Redoute, late in the notoriously long Monument, to find her self riding solo, 35km from the finish. Puck Pieterse and Kasia Niewiadoma chased in a group that included, at times, Canada’s Isabella Holmgren and Anna van der Breggen. Despite that firepower, the group could not reel in Vollering.
That, the Dutch rider says, was all part of the plan.
“I really wanted to go all out for this victory and didn’t want to have any regrets afterwards. So we made a plan to go from Le Redoute,” Vollering shared after the race. “Actually, we wanted to have a few teammates in the front before but that didn’t really work out. But still I went and it was a really long way from there but I managed to find the finish here and finish it off.