Demi Vollering will race on at the Tour de France Femmes and started stage 4 after further medical examinations and a second concussion protocol check ruled out the risk of a serious concussion, FDJ-Suez announced on Tuesday.
Cyclingnews saw Vollering warm-up for the stage outside the FDJ-Suez team and she spoke briefly before the stage start.
“My sleep was good so that is a good thing. I feel okay. I mean, it was a hard impact yesterday. I hit my head also a bit but with the team we did really good examinations and for now it doesn’t look like I have a concussion, so that’s the good news,” Vollering said in Saumur.
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Vollering was asked if she suffered a sense of déjà vu after her crash appeared similar to that of the 2024 Tour that cost her precious time for the final classification.
She highlighted the differences and how her FDJ-Suez team was always with her.
“Of course, when I was on the ground, I had some throwbacks to last year,” Vollering said.
“Luckily this time it was just in the last kilometres, so I didn’t lose time this time. My team was there and are always with me, so I’m really grateful to them.”
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The 2023 Tour winner crashed with 3.6km to go on the outskirts of Angers as the road narrowed near the end of stage 3. A number of riders touched wheels and then crashed at multiple points across the road.
After the incident, Vollering was picked up from the tarmac by her teammates and escorted to the finish by her FDJ-Suez teammates Amber Kraak and Juliette Labous.
The team said Vollering suffered multiple contusions, but she decided not to go to the hospital, given the non-urgent nature of her medical condition. Further checks on Tuesday morning allowed her to at least start stage 4.
“Further medical examinations and a second concussion protocol Demi Vollering underwent this morning with the team doctor, ruled out the risk of concussion,” FDJ-Suez said in a brief statement.
“With the support of FDJ-SUEZ team, Demi Vollering is determined to take part in today’s stage. The team remains vigilant and will further follow her situation during the efforts (warming up and race).”
Vollering briefly warmed down after the stage at the FDJ-Suez bus, but her skin suit was ripped in places, and she was in visible pain.
FDJ-Suez team manager Stephen Delcourt revealed she had pain in her knees, glutes and her back. He lamented about the lack of respect in the peloton.
“We lose the respect compared to last year in men’s and women’s cycling, everybody wants to play with a life,” Delcourt said, referring to riders fighting for position in the heat of the race.
“Today is the fault of the rider, it is not the fault of the ASO,” he said, suggesting the crashes were caused by rider error rather than route design.
“We work a lot for the Tour de France, and Demi works a lot herself for that. And we just want to respect the woman before the rider, and now she just needs time, and we want to continue to be positive.”
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) will wear the race leader’s yellow jersey during stage 4 to Poitiers, where another sprint finish is expected. She is expecting more tension in the peloton and so possibly more crashes.
“It’s the Tour de France, and everybody wants to be in front. It’s pretty chaotic, especially in such a sprint finish, and coming into the city on a descent at high speed, but I don’t think it’s really about respect when everybody is fighting over every centimetre,” she said after stage 3.
“Unfortunately, these things can happen. It’s the riders who fight for the position that make it dangerous, but it’s not really about respect, I think.
“Of course, it also happens in other races. It’s just a sport where you have to fight for position. Of course, it’s nice when people do this in a good and fair way and leave space, but you know these things can also unfortunately happen, but hopefully not too much.”
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