Demi Vollering went into the 2026 UCI Road World Championships elite women's road race as the overwhelming favourite, but pulling off her rainbow jersey-winning race took more than just individual strength - it took the entire weight of the Dutch squad fully behind her. It's something that the 29-year-old made sure to repeatedly point out in her post-race press conference.
"It's incredible to see it finally work out after the race we have shown today," Vollering said. "Because in the past I have said it more often: if we want to win a race with me, then we need to do it like this way, to set a team in front of me and really sacrifice every team member to also make the race very hard and to stay in control.
"That's what we did today, and then directly we have like this beautiful jersey in our pocket. So it really took all the effort from every single team member to get to this point, and I'm very proud of all the girls I had around me today, but also of our coach, Laurens ten Dam, who made this team together and also to make sure that everybody was 100% dedicated for this plan."
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It was clear from the first kilometre that the Netherlands had this intention, as they amassed at the front and stayed there as a non-threatening breakaway went up the road. When the race finally reached the 13.3km circuits in downtown Montreal, they slowly ramped up the pace to reel in the attack. Femke de Vries, Lieke Nooijen, Riejanne Markus, Karlijn Swinkels and Amber Kraak took turns at the front until Vollering was ready to make her move.
On the main climb of the circuit, the Camilien-Houde, at the beginning of the third-to-last lap, Puck Pieterse went to the front and set such a blistering pace that there were only eight riders left at the front. It was time for Vollering to make her move. This was 'plan A'.
"I think the key moment was having a team who made it so hard lap after lap, and then Puck, who did an amazing lead-out for me to set up an attack, Vollering said.
"I think this was one of the key moments where we really killed all the others almost, and then I was out alone. It was a very crazy race from this moment, because the gap never was amazingly big, so it was always like 20, 15 seconds. I really tried to stay in the moment and to focus on my own effort."
Although a concerted chase from Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney (Poland) and, on the flatter sections, Marlen Reusser (Switzerland), reeled her in before the final lap with 15.6km to go, she kept believing.
"The moment they came back, I was like, 'OK, now I need to switch to Plan B as soon as possible,' but at least I have to try to go all the way to the finish line without any regrets. It really helped also to have a team who worked so hard the whole day for you. Then it's a bit easier to finish it off because you have all the weight on your shoulders to finish it off as well, so I'm so incredibly proud to have delivered here and wear this beautiful jersey."
It is no small task to take a group of riders from all different trade teams, any number of whom might be able to win the race, and get them to rally behind a single rider. In years past, the Netherlands have won through raw power with Anna van der Breggen, Annemiek van Vleuten, and Marianne Vos. Vollering knew it would take a group effort for her to win, and finally had the confidence to get the backing to do so.
"It takes guts to ask this from a team, you know? Like: 'OK, we go to a race, I take a lot of strong Dutch girls with me, they all sacrifice their own chances for me, and then I will finish it off for you'. But you don't know if you can finish it off!
"It's very hard to say 'OK girls, you need to work very hard for me, and then I will take the jersey for you, but there's also a chance I cannot do it'. So yeah, that's I think a very hard moment, but by saying that now - and also now I dare to say this - I think that changed the results also for me. Then I can stay calm in the race and know that if it will not work out, that the world will not end. Because in the past maybe it would feel like this as well, but now I also know that it's not like this."
As a two-time winner of the Tour de France, with titles in the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race - the list goes on and on - to finally win a rainbow jersey is a massive accomplishment that has been years in the making.
"It's the biggest victory of my career, also because it's such a hard race to win," Vollering said of the World Championships. "Like I said before, you do it with teammates who normally are your competitors, so it's hard to make a team work like they worked today.
"So for that, I'm forever thankful for them, for all their hard work. And also very proud that we came to this point - how we were already the last few days with each other, we had such a good time, and also they give me the confidence and the belief, and that's very important."
There was only one moment that Vollering thought the plan could fall apart, and that was when Longo Borghini launched a surprise attack at the start of the final lap, and gained ten seconds.
"I think indeed in this moment I was a bit like, 'Shit, if she stays out over the top of this climb, then we have a problem'. But then I knew I just had to pace this climb as hard as I could and catch her back before the top. So that's what I did. Of course, this was an exciting moment - you don't know what you can still do and what the others can still do. So yeah, it was a nervous moment."
After the climb, Vollering was away with her long-time rival Niewiadoma-Phinney, and the two sprinted side-by-side until 50 metres to go when the Polish rider succumbed to cramps. The pair have been head-to-head countless times, but Vollering believed until the last metre.
"You have to believe with your whole heart that it's possible. There were so many years that I also tried so hard and it didn't work out, and you're devastated as well. But this year it finally worked out for me," Vollering said.
"I think this is one of the most beautiful races we have ever shown. It was a very interesting and exciting race to the finish line, also for Elisa [Longo Borghini] coming back so close again. So you couldn't switch off at any moment, and you needed to stay super focused every single second to make sure nothing crazy would happen."
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