She went long, 35 kilometres long, from the Côte de la Redoute, and no one saw her again.
“I really wanted to go all-out for this victory and not have any regrets afterwards. We made a plan to go from the Redoute. We wanted to have a teammate in front before, but that didn’t really work out. Still, I went, and it was a long, long way from there, but I managed to finish it off.”
A move that split the race for good
The race had been controlled, even tense, up to that point. Early moves came and went, none allowed much space. When the peloton hit La Redoute, the group was already reduced but still intact enough for a response.
Vollering made sure there wasn’t one.
Her first acceleration thinned the group. The second, a few hundred metres later, ended the race. Behind her, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Puck Pieterse and others tried to organise a chase, but the gap opened quickly and steadily.
Extending, not just holding
This wasn’t a defensive solo. Vollering didn’t just hold a margin, she built it. Across the rolling terrain after La Redoute, she increased her advantage to over a minute. Even as the chasers reshaped behind her, the gap never stabilised. By the final 10 kilometres, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
For Vollering, the move wasn’t reactive. It was the race she came to ride.
“I really wanted to win here again. I really love this race; it brings back so many good memories. Still being a club rider, I was already dreaming about it without knowing if there would ever be a women’s race. Then, finally, we got one, I became a pro, and I won here for the third time. It’s incredible, I’m super proud. Women’s sport deserves so much more,” she said after the finish.
The race behind the winner
The fight for second became its own race.
Pieterse eventually won the sprint from a three-rider group ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney and Anna van der Breggen, who bridged across late after a strong solo effort.
Further back, the race continued to split and reform across the final climbs, but none of it changed the outcome at the front.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2026 Results
- Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) — solo
- Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) — +1:29
- Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) — +1:29
- Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) — +1:29
- Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) — +1:48
- Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) — +1:48
- Elise Chabbey (FDJ-SUEZ) — +1:48
- Magdeleine Vallières (EF Education-Oatly) — +1:48
- Juliette Berthet (FDJ-SUEZ) — +1:48
- Axelle Dubau-Prévot (EF Education-Oatly) — +1:48
