Demi Vollering might be worth €1 million a year, if the rumours are true, but the Dutch champion wasn't flaunting wealth as she previewed the final stages of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes. Instead, she and her partner, Jan, explored the route and camped in their van with their dog, Flo, eating al fresco and sleeping under the stars instead of in hotels.
"Between races, you're in hotels so much, so I love getting away with the RV and getting back to basics," Vollering told Nos.nl.
The defending Tour de France Femmes champion's trip included a climb up L'Alpe d'Huez, the final climb of the final stage of this year's race where the first woman will get their name on the board that lists the Tour de France stage winners atop the climb.
She also tackled stage 6 from Remiremont to Morteau, 160km long, and stage 7 from Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand, 167km, before riding the final stage to L'Alpe d'Huez, 150km long.
The last two stages, she said, "are really quite different from anything we have ever experienced so far. [We've never had] so many altimeters and all very long stages. All above 150 kilometres, so that's going to be a really tough one - it will be a spicy finish."
After climbing Alpe d'Huez, Vollering said she could picture it being full of people cheering on the roadside.
"I found it steeper than I expected," she said of the climb. On the recond, she said, "You mainly try to see how the climb goes from the first steep stretch [and see] here it flattens out again a bit, here might be nice to place an attack, here I want to be gone already or here is better to still be in the wheels. So you're just continuously thinking ahead already to the perfect scenarios."
This year's Tour de France is a special one for Vollering, not only because she will start as defending champion but because the race starts in the Netherlands.
"We start in Rotterdam, close to where I was born, so it's very special."
Vollering has tailored her season around the August race, which comes just after the Olympic Games. She has already been named to the Dutch team for Paris but will be working for sprinter Lorena Wiebes along with Ellen van Dijk and Marianne Vos.
"The road course may not be entirely suitable for me. It is quite flat, so I also enjoy working for the team," she said. The time trial could be a chance for a medal, "On a good day, when everything goes well."
Her spring campaign went nowhere near as well as in 2023, with no wins until the Vuelta Femenina in May. She followed it quickly with the overall wins in Itzulia Women and Vuelta a Burgos Femenina and will start at the Tour de Suisse Women on Saturday.
"I knew it was impossible to ride a spring like last year," she said. The split with SD Worx over contract negotiations will ensure she moves to a new team next year, although she wouldn't confirm the €1 million offer rumours that spread so widely this spring.
"It's nice to see that there is so much speculation about it. It shows how much attention women's cycling receives. For me it is important that the races are seen, that is how we achieve the most growth."
Until the end of the season, she is committed to working for SD Worx-Protime.
"I'm trying to focus on the goals this season. My team also wants to win those races with me, so that's what counts - the sporting aspect."
