Demi Vollering goes down hard in late Tour de France Femmes crash

Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) crashed in the final kilometres of stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes, sparking a flashback of her crash in the 2024 race, but without her losing any time in the general classification due to times taken with five kilometres to go.

Race leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) was also slowed by the crash and was also awarded the same time as stage winner Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx–Protime). However, Marianne Vos (Team Visma–Lease a Bike) was second on the stage and so took the race lead thanks to the time bonuses. Only 20 or so riders contested the finish due to the disruption of the crash.

The crash happened with 3.6km to go on a right turn as the riders exited a bridge and the road narrowed on the approach to Angers. A number of riders touched wheels and crashed in multiple points, with Vollering hit at speed by another rider.

Vollering sat in the road for a moment and then was helped to her feet by a teammate. She was initially pushed towards the finish line by her teammates Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez) and Juliette Labous (Team Picnic PostNL) but was soon able to ride to the finish in Angers.

Vollering crossed the line over six minutes behind but was not concerned due to the five-kilometre crash rule in place for sprint stages.

Vollering slipped to sixth overall at 19 seconds in the general classification, three seconds down on rivals and 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-Sram zondacrypto).

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