Demi Vollering starts season with solo win in Setmana Valenciana
Demi Vollering started her season with a victory. The team leader of FDJ-United SUEZ soloed to the win in the opening stage of the Setmana Valenciana, after dropping everyone on the final climb. She is naturally also the first leader in the general classification.
The Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana – simply known as the Setmana Valenciana – began with a stage from and to Gandia. The 121-kilometer stage featured three categorized climbs. The summit of the final climb, the Alto de Barx from Simat de la Valldigna (6 km at 4.7%), was located about fifteen kilometers from the finish line.
There was some debate before the start. Due to strong winds, not everyone thought it was safe to run the stage. After the riders voted, the race was ultimately started. However, the opening phase saw little action. The peloton was occasionally stretched out, but it never really broke apart. We also saw no early breakaway. Anne Knijnenburg (VolkerWessels) tried to escape briefly, but the race remained together.
Vollering attacks
The large peloton approached the penultimate climb of the day, the Alto de Barxeta (2 km at 4.8%). Leading into this climb, we saw an attack by Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek), and when she was caught, several riders tried to break away on the descent. That attempt failed however. FDJ United-SUEZ kept the group together for Vollering, who unleashed her power on the Alto de Barx.
Only one rider could follow the European champion: Antonia Niedermaier. The German from CANYON//SRAM latched onto Vollering’s wheel, but at one point had to let go. She dropped back to join Maeva Squiban, and the two crossed the summit twenty seconds behind the leader. A group including Thalita de Jong, Rosita Reijnhout, Lotte Claes, Viktória Chladoňová, Mie Bjørndal Ottestad, Cédrine Kerbaol, and World Champion Magdeleine Vallieres was already more than half a minute behind.
While the two chasing groups came together, Vollering was unrecoverable. She would ride the final part of the stage solo. Thus, she won the stage and immediately took a big step toward the overall victory.
