Demi Vollering confirmed a series of 11 races she will target, beginning at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend and including a return to the Tour of Flanders and the Giro d'Italia, with a primary focus on the Tour de France in August.
The FDJ United-SUEZ leader spoke to Cyclingnews and select members of the media in a 'Late Conversation' roundtable on Thursday, where she also confirmed that Paris-Roubaix is not on her calendar this year because she felt it clashed with her goals at the Ardennes Classics, but that she would like to be on that start line in the future.
"For the coming year, I have a bit of the same goals again, but now especially, I'm going to be back at Flanders, which I'm very excited for. Also, the Giro is back on my calendar, which hasn't been there for a while, so I'm very excited to be back in those two races," Vollering said.
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"I'm looking forward to the whole season, all the races, and how we can do as a team. Last year it was the first for all of us, for everything, and now we are getting really used to each other, and it's already the second year. So I think now it will only get easier for all of us, because we know each other so well."
Vollering will embark on her second season with FDJ United-SUEZ, where she won 11 races last year, including the Vuelta a España, but fell short of her goal of winning a second Tour de France title, finishing second overall behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike).
She highlighted this year's Tour de France, held from August 1-9 and including a time trial, and climbs, Col d'Eze and Mont Ventoux, as one well-suited to her skill set, but said that to win, she and FDJ United-SUEZ would need to be perfect in every detail.
"We just need to be in a good form, being fresh, physically, mentally, completely to be on the start line there with a thought that we can do it," Vollering said. "Of course, we're going to work very hard for it. We will try everything in the Tour itself to get the best results every day."
Vollering begins her season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Gent, a race she has not yet won but hopes will reveal early-season form before she moves on to Strade Bianche, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Tour of Flanders.
"I'm very eager, so, yes, I'm looking forward to Omloop as well. In the past, Omloop was never really a big, big goal for me. [My goals] are always a little bit later, of course, but Omloop is a very nice race, and I'm always looking forward to seeing how you are and how your form is at the moment," she said.
"I've never won it. It would be really nice to have it on my palmares, but if not, I'm sure it will happen in the future."
A former winner of the Ardennes Classics triple - Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège - Vollering will once again return to compete in all three, but revealed that she would like to replace those for a chance to compete at Paris-Roubaix at least once during her career.
"I really like the cobblestone classics, and I would love to do Paris-Roubaix one time. It's a tricky one because I really love the Ardennes Classics aswell. There is a feeling that I need to choose, Paris-Roubaix or the Ardennes, and in the end, I always choose the Ardennes. So maybe one day, I will do Paris-Roubaix, but for now, I keep the Ardennes as my priority," she said.
Vollering will also return to the Giro d'Italia, which has shifted to a late-May date this year, allowing her to aim for the Giro-Tour double without compromising her ambitions for the French Grand Tour.
"That is the main reason why it is back on my calendar. The Tour de France will always be my biggest goal. Before the Tour, I want to do an altitude block, a really good training block, to prepare myself in the best possible way," Vollering said.
"Now that the Giro has moved more forward, I can still do my big training block before the Tour, and that is why the Giro is back on my calendar."
The Giro d'Italia, held from May 31 to June 7, will include the famed Coll della Finestre, which Vollering intends to preview in a training block before the race begins.
"I have never ridden it before, and I plan to do a recon there, but I really look forward to seeing it. It looks like a cool climb. It's a climb with a good name ... everybody knows it. I always like those climbs, and I'm looking forward to doing it for real and seeing how it will feel," she said. "Overall, I knew I would race the Giro before I knew the Finestre was in it. So now that the Finestre is in, it's good."
Vollering reiterated that a more selective racing calendar will mean she has more time to both recover and train in between her targets, but she is already off to a good start after her victory at Setmana Valenciana and is hoping to carry that form into the Spring Classics.
"My feeling is good. I'm looking forward to measuring myself and to seeing where I am in between everybody else this weekend."
Demi Vollering's racing schedule 2026
- Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- Strade Bianche
- Dwars door Vlaanderen
- Tour of Flanders
- Amstel Gold Race
- Flèche Wallonne
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- Giro d'Italia
- Tour de Suisse
- Tour de France
- World Championships
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