FDJ United-Suez have unveiled their squad to support Demi Vollering at the Tour de France Femmes as the Dutch rider aims to reclaim the yellow jersey she last won in 2023.
Now in her second year with FDJ United-Suez, the French team have built their team around Vollering's GC ambition, with a squad full of experience and strength across climbs and flat terrain.
Vollering's trusted lieutenants and fellow GC riders Juliette Berthet and Évita Muzic return as luxury mountain domestiques, alongside Amber Kraak and Marie Le Net. Paris-Roubaix winner Fransizka Koch, who has been beside Vollering for many of her victories already this season, will be the powerhouse of the team, whilst newly-crowned French national champion Célia Gery has earnt her debut at the Tour.
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These seven riders have just spent three weeks together at altitude in preparation for the Tour, and will start next weekend in Lausanne united behind one big goal.
"Like every year, but especially last year and this year, it's really hard to choose the roster because we have a really, really amazing team, and we have only one goal, which is the yellow," FDJ Team Manager Stephen Delcourt told Cyclingnews about the team selection process earlier this month.
"For that, we want the best riders around Demi, and not just the seven best riders, because especially with this Tour de France, there are a lot of stages where we need to be really careful if we want to put pressure on the others."
That approach, Delcourt explained, comes from the fact that the GC battle is set to be bigger than ever this year, and therefore teams don't just want the seven best riders or the riders capable of winning stages, but a group who can race as a unit to try and go up against so many strong rivals.
"The Tour de France is really open this year because I think there are six or seven riders able to win, and the gap to the big favourites like Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Marlen Reusser, Anna van der Breggen is really small, so we need to optimise, and for that we need to have – like last year – the best collective," he explained.
"That will be our best French climbers, Juliette Labous and Evita Muzic. Then two domestiques to be everywhere for her, protect all the riders and to protect Demi on the flat parts or if there is a gap, that's Marie Le Net and Amber Kraak. And then two special riders of the year, maybe the revelations of the year, Franziska Koch will be there in the German jersey, and Célia Gery with the French flag."
The only obvious name missing from the line-up is perhaps Elise Chabbey, who announced her pregnancy in July and is therefore taking a break from racing for the foreseeable future, but it was perhaps her absence that opened the door for Gery to make her Tour debut in the tri-colour jersey.
The U23 World Champion, and now French champion, proved her ability at the Giro d'Italia Women, and will get another chance to support Demi Vollering in her hunt for a Grand Tour win.
"It was really obvious for Celia after the Giro, and we have no doubt about the capacity of Celia to be ready for a stage race like the Tour de France," Delcourt explained.
"She can be really helpful on the easy stages, the hilly stages and the mountain stages, and she's also the best for the downhill to put pressure on the others. She can win a stage, if it's in coherence with the yellow jersey, and she has a really special relationship with Demi, which we want to continue to grow."
As for the woman at the centre of the team, Vollering, the team are focusing on putting her in the best position possible, and not worrying about her rivals just yet. Her year so far has been a huge success, with major Classics wins and her first Giro title, and now there is just one big goal to go.
The team can't control how her rivals arrive to this race, but can control Vollering's preparation, and so far they seem to have got that just right.
"It's maybe the preparation and to be sure to be fresh for Demi and the group," Delcourt said when asked what the team had tried to do differently from last year. "Last year we had a really amazing collective, we saw that when we won the team classification, but Pauline was on another planet.
"We expect that Pauline will be on the same level or better this year, and we just want to work on ourselves and how we can close this gap, both individually with Demi and with the group."
Hear more from our interview with Stephen Delcourt in a full feature coming next week as we countdown towards the Tour de France Femmes.
FDJ-United Suez to the Tour de France Femmes 2026
- Demi Vollering
- Juliette Berthet
- Évita Muzic
- Amber Kraak
- Marie Le Net
- Franziska Koch
- Célia Gery
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