{"id":7170,"date":"2024-08-16T18:02:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T16:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=7170"},"modified":"2024-09-12T18:05:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T16:05:43","slug":"vollering-strong-favorite-to-win-second-tour-de-france-femmes-avec-zwift-in-a-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2024\/08\/16\/vollering-strong-favorite-to-win-second-tour-de-france-femmes-avec-zwift-in-a-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Vollering Strong Favorite to Win Second Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in a Row"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (TdFF), which kicks off on August 12 in Rotterdam, passes through three countries, covers 949.7 km, and will be won on the final two stages by the best climber in the peloton. One new wrinkle in the race is that stages 2 and 3 will be run on the same day. That shouldn\u2019t be overly trying since stage 2 is flat as a floorboard and covers only 69.7 km, from Dordrecht to Rotterdam, and stage 3 is an ITT of only 6.9 km with only a 19 m wrinkle in the road to climb.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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All that flatness should mean that the race will be close until those final two stages, which are both summit finishes, with the mighty Alpe d\u2019Huez comprising the last 13.8 km (at 8.1%) of the race. The Alpe d\u2019Huez replaces last year\u2019s Col du Tourmalet as the decisive obstacle of the race. The Tourmalet was climbed on that race\u2019s penultimate stage, which was won by SD Worx-Protime\u2019s Demi Vollering, by 1:58 over Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon\/SRAM Racing).<\/p>\n

Coming into that stage, Vollering had been seventh in the GC, trailing teammate Lotte Kopecky by 1:07 and Niewiadoma by 12 seconds. But her climbing superiority turned the race on its head, and an excellent second place in the final-stage ITT made her a dominant winner of the TdFF, by 3:03 over both Kopecky and Niewiadoma. There\u2019s no reason to believe that she can\u2019t win again this year.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Dutchwoman comes into the TdFF after riding in the Paris Olympics ITT and road race, where she finished fifth and 34th, respectively. That last result should not be taken as an indication of her form, as she rode in support of Dutch teammate Lorena Wiebes, who finished a distant 11th behind surprise winner Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale).<\/p>\n

Riding in the Olympics forced Vollering to revise her usual training schedule. \u201cI did already my altitude camp pretty close to the Olympics. So I hope I can bring my form to there but, of course, it’s tricky,\u201d Vollering told Cyclingnews.<\/a> \u201cNormally, like last week, you would have like a big training week still. Now you haven’t done so much because you want also to be fresh here. We will see if I can bring this form to the Tour de France.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a way, the TdFF is a version of this year\u2019s men\u2019s Tour, which had a lot of difficult climbs, especially in the final week. So Vollering echoed what many male riders had said ahead of their Tour. \u201cThis year is super, super hard, especially the last two days,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s a really hard course. Never have we seen something like this in women’s cycling, so I’m really curious to see what happens there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As are we all. She will have a strong support team that includes European champion Mischa Bredewold, Blanka Vas, and Niamh Fisher-Black, with Wiebes hoping to add to her collection of three TdFF stage wins. But Kopecky is going for gold on the track in Paris and will not be on the squad.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Niewiadoma should again be her main challenger, as she seems to have reached another level this year. She had an excellent Classics season, winning La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne F\u00e9minine,<\/a> finishing second in the Tour of Flanders, and fourth in the Strade Bianche Donne. However, illness forced her to abandon the Vuelta Espa\u00f1a Femenina by Carrefour.es, which was won by Vollering.<\/p>\n

She has since finished fourth in the Tour de Suisse Women (2:24 behind Vollering), seventh in the second-tier Internationale LOTTO Th\u00fcringen Ladies Tour, and eighth in the Olympics road race, so there is a question mark about her form.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udc9b Dream of yellow \ud83d\udc9b<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude0d The Yellow Jersey. 154 riders dream of it. Only one will wear it at the Alpe d'Huez. The battle will be amazing!<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude0d Le Maillot Jaune. 154 coureuses en r\u00eavent. Une seule le portera \u00e0 l'Alpe d'Huez. La bataille sera intense !#WatchTheFemmes<\/a> l @GoZwift<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3W4FiV9fF6<\/a><\/p>\n

— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) August 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n