Demi Vollering dethrones Annemiek van Vleuten at Tour de France Femmes as SD Worx celebrate on final stage

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) completed a stunning overall victory at the Tour de France Femmes after coming second on Sunday's race-concluding individual time trial.

It was a dream day for SD Worx as Vollering finished 10 seconds back on team-mate Marlen Reusser in the 22.6km run around Pau, while Lotte Kopecky surged into second in the general classification after coming third.

Defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) missed out on the overall podium after finishing 14th on Sunday, with Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) taking third overall.

SD Worx were dominant in the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes, starting with a stage win on the first day for Kopecky. Vollering finished sixth on the opening day as team-mate Kopecky took the yellow jersey in a Tour that would see the team win four stages.

But Vollering and the team had to overcome the adversity of being given a 20-second penalty and having their second sports director, Danny Stam, removed from the race following a drafting incident on Stage 5.

Belgian national champion Kopecky swapped her national stripes for one of cycling’s most sought-after jerseys for seven stages before Vollering stormed into the general classification lead with a brilliant win on the Col du Tourmalet. Kopecky may have lost the yellow jersey, but it simply afforded her the opportunity to wear the green jersey with a green bike to match for the final stage. Despite holding the points jersey for the entirety of the Tour, Kopecky was only able to don green on the final day when Vollering took over in yellow.

After Vollering took a 1'50'' lead over Niewiadoma in GC thanks to her barnstorming win on the Tourmalet, the final-day time trial in Pau was the final hurdle between the Dutch rider and the top step of the podium.

Vollering, who finished second behind Van Vleuten in last year’s Tour as well as in the La Vuelta Femenina at the start of May, finally made the jump from second to first in what felt like a seismic and symbolic moment for a new era of women’s cycling.

The final stage started in Pau with Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez) setting an early leading time of 30’36” over the 22.6km course.

Vollering’s SD Worx team-mate Reusser, the European individual time trial champion, tore through the intermediate time point to surpass the splits of Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health) and Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) set minutes before.

Brown then knocked team-mate Guazzini out of the hot seat but she had barely had time to sit down before Reusser took the lead with a time of 29'15" that shaved 40 seconds off the Australian’s time.

Kopecky, Van Vleuten and Queen of the Mountains Niewiadoma then began their time trial efforts in search of a general classification podium place. Vollering was the last to go down the ramp in her yellow skinsuit, complete with matching yellow nail varnish to mark the occasion.

As the yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys started the stage, white jersey wearer Cedrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) crossed the line to seal her victory in the best young rider classification after an impressive race in her home country where she wore the white jersey for the entirety.

At the intermediate time point, former Belgian national time trial winner Kopecky - who was seven seconds behind Van Vleuten in GC at the start of the day in fourth - set the third-best time of 17’08”. Van Vleuten was already down on time when she reached the same point with a time of 17'39".

When Niewiadoma reached the intermediate point she was battling to defend her second place overall, but was fifth on the road at 17'10". Vollering’s time at the time check pre-empted the place she would finish the stage in as she sat in second, 13” behind where Reusser had been at the same point.

Yet another impressive ride from Kopecky following her heroics on the Tourmalet the day before saw the Belgian rider move up to second in the general classification with a time of 29'53" as she bumped Niewiadoma and Van Vleuten down to third and fourth respectively.

Niewiadoma continued to battle hard with an aim to retain her second place on the GC podium and finished the stage in ninth, 1’23” behind Reusser. While she was beaten by hundredths of a second by Kopecky to lose her place on the second step, her ride was enough to retain her top three place in the GC. In addition, she finished first in the Queen of the Mountains classification that Vollering had won the year before.

When Vollering crossed the line at 29’25” not only had she secured an SD Worx 1-2-3 for the final stage, but she’d also written her name into the history books by winning the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes. The World Tour leader also went on to finish third in both the points classification and Queen of the Mountains in what was a highly competitive Tour de France.

Reusser’s time was undefeated and she won the stage with a 10” lead ahead of team-mate Vollering, followed by Kopecky who was 38” behind her in third on an unforgettable day for SD Worx and the sport.

It was heartbreak for defending champion Van Vleuten who finished just outside of the podium in fourth in her final Tour and 14th on the stage with a time of 30'56". She was surrounded by her Movistar team-mates at the finish line who were full of admiration for the current world champion.

In just two weeks’ time, the women’s peloton will battle it out once more at the World Championships on August 13 in Glasgow. Based on the results this season, Vollering could be a key contender to add the rainbow jersey to her growing collection in what promises to be another enthralling race.

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The 2023 Tour de France Femmes was live on discovery+ and eurosport.com