Vollering's Flanders Return Ends Off the Podium as Kopecky Lands the Record
Demi Vollering came back to the Tour of Flanders Femmes after a year away, and discovered the hard way that the cobbled classics do not always reward the strongest climber in the peloton. The Dutchwoman, leading FDJ-SUEZ into her first Ronde van Vlaanderen since her switch from the Belgian super-team in the winter of 2024, finished outside the top four on Sunday as former teammate Lotte Kopecky rode to a record-equalling third Ronde title in Oudenaarde.
Vollering had arrived in Flanders on a wave of form. Her narrow loss to Marlen Reusser at Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier in the week had looked, in hindsight, like a perfect dress rehearsal — an aggressive, long-range Vollering attack held off only by a rider of Reusser's particular chrono-power. On the Helleklimbs of Flanders, in theory, her ceiling should have been higher still.
Instead, the race unfolded in exactly the shape Vollering has struggled with before. The second time up the Oude Kwaremont, Kopecky's SD Worx-Protime squadron launched a relentless series of accelerations that splintered the front group into fragments. Vollering was attentive and well positioned, but she could not match Kopecky's explosive kick on the upper slopes, and by the time the Paterberg arrived she was chasing a four-rider move — Kopecky, Ferrand-Prévot, Lippert and Niewiadoma-Phinney — that would not come back.
"Today was not my day on the Kwaremont," Vollering admitted at the FDJ-SUEZ bus, towel around her shoulders, voice level. "I had the legs for a podium, I think, but not for the attack Lotte made. When the four of them went, I could not close it alone. The team did everything right, we were in every important position — the race was simply won on one climb, and I was not on the right wheel at the right moment."
Her result — a finish in the chase group behind the winning four — was a reminder that Flanders rewards a particular blend of punch and cobbled savvy that Vollering, for all her brilliance in the Ardennes and grand tours, is still refining. The same pattern has now repeated across several of her previous Ronde appearances: strong all day, present at every split, but unable to survive the decisive kick on the Kwaremont.
For FDJ-SUEZ, the consolation is that the signing is working. Vollering has started every spring classic as a legitimate podium contender; she has won Strade Bianche; she has pushed Reusser to the line at Dwars door Vlaanderen; and she arrives at the Ardennes block with form and free legs. The team principal, Stephen Delcourt, was visibly relaxed at the finish. "Demi is exactly where we want her to be. The race today did not suit her perfectly, but she was there in the final. On Huy and Liège, she will be the favourite."
The Ardennes swing begins with Amstel Gold Race, where Vollering has always been dangerous, before Flèche Wallonne Femmes — a race she has won three times — and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, where she will go in as the bookmakers' favourite regardless of what happened on Sunday in Oudenaarde.
"I learn from every Flanders," she said, managing a small smile as she left the paddock. "Next year, I will come back and try again. For now — Liège. Liège is a race I know how to win."