Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) may have a strong record in the time trial, having finished third in the discipline at last year's World Championships. However, it seems she was still pleasantly surprised by her performance in the race against the clock on stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes.
A third place on the stage, trumping all but one of the key overall rivals, also meant moving up to second on the general classification. Plus, given the relatively slim margin to stage winner, world time trial champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar), the gap to yellow is now just 14 seconds.
"Actually, I'm really happy about the TT," Vollering told reporters after the time trial on Tuesday. "I knew that today was really a TT for the TT specialists, for the riders with big power – the big powerhouses – and yeah, I prepared myself mentally that it was possible to lose some time here on riders like Marlen, for example, but that I was so close, it makes me happy."
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Just 17.92 seconds separated the two on the stage, with Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike), who is not an overall threat, settling between the pair of riders who have long been high up on the Tour de France Femmes favourites list. What's more, there were some considerable gaps carved out to many other overall rivals.
Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) is now the closest rider behind Vollering in the overall standings, at 54 seconds back from Reusser and 40 seconds behind the 2023 race winner. Then, the other pre-race favourites are at least a minute behind yellow, from Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L'IMAD) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) at 1:03 and 1:09 respectively, while defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) is 2:13 behind Reusser.
"For me today is one step, a really, really important step, but it's only one step," said team manager Stephen Delcourt.
While Vollering kept the gap to Reusser to a minimum, the French team has always made clear with its words and actions that it's not aiming for anything less than the top step, and right now another rider is occupying it who is going to be hard to dislodge.
"I think Demi made the gap with the other five contenders, but we still have Marlen …and we don't expect that Marlen will explode," said Delcourt.
Plus, even with Ferrand-Prévot having taken a hit in the time trial, she certainly isn't considered out of the running yet, not when – as Delcourt was quick to point out – she put nearly two minutes into her nearest rival, Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), on the Col de la Madeleine last year and gained three minutes on the fourth-placed Vollering.
2025 was an edition in which Vollering had to grapple with an early crash, and she again hit the deck on stage 3 this year, but there was little evidence that she was feeling the impact of this given the performance delivered in the time trial. She was with the physio and doctor after the stage to manage it, said Delcourt.
"We never know the impact of the crash just after, and especially the morning after and especially when she will push for another effort," he said. "I think she's good. She doesn't complain. She was really, really good [in the time trial] but we are really careful, and we are focused. We have only one goal."
That one goal means there is no chance of a let-up for the whole team, which is throwing everything behind the rider who won in 2023 and has finished second in the other three editions.
"For sure we need to gain whatever we can, wherever we can," said Vollering.
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