“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>
Following a verbal volley of insults in the wake of Demi Vollering’s crash at the Tour de France Femmez avec Zwift, both Visma-Lease a Bike and FDJ-Suez attempted to reach an amicable truce at the start of stage 5.
However, a planned ceasefire between Jos van Emden and Stephen Delcourt barely lasted a few minutes.
Delcourt, the manager of the French team, brandished other competitors as “truly disrespectful” as “they keep cutting her [Vollering] off” when she rides at the front, after the Dutch rider’s fall on stage 3.
Visma DS Van Emden had responded to Delcourt’s comments by stating that “what he’s saying is absolutely ridiculous. I have no respect for those comments. He apparently wants a peloton of eight riders, with Demi in it, to continue riding in a gilded cage. He’s simply influenced by Demi, by Demi’s posturing.
“Demi really thinks she’s in a gilded cage. Yes, she’s the best cyclist, but that doesn’t mean everyone should make way for her.”
Before stage 5, the warring pair and Visma’s head coach Jacco Verhaeren met in the bud paddock for an animated and at times tense 20-minute discussion.
After it ended, Delcourt first refused to speak to Velo and other media about the conversation, stating that “I don’t want to talk about safety.”
But moments later he voiced his frustration, stepping up the attacks.
“For me, he’s stupid and only thinks about himself; he has an oversized ego,” he said of Van Emden.
“This morning, his superiors called me to tell me that they were distancing themselves from his comments and that they understood that I was talking about safety in general and not just about Demi. We’re not going to get stuck on an ego contest, but hey, it doesn’t surprise me from him.”
‘For most of us, if something is happening you just learn how to deal with it’
Niewiadoma gave her thoughts about the situation (Photo: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Speaking to Sporza, he added: “When I talked about a lack of respect, I wasn’t just referring to the crash. It’s been like that since the start of the season.
“It’s not the first time Van Emden talks like this. For him, it’s all a game. I think he’s a stupid man. That’s all I’ll say.”
No immediate response from Van Emden was forthcoming, but the heated debate continues to reverberate around the peloton.
Defending champion and one of Vollering’s principal rivals for yellow, Kasia Niewiadoma, made some pointed remarks after stage 5. She was asked by Velo if her Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto team had an advantage as they hadn’t suffered any injuries or illnesses, and nor were they in the center of a frosty exchange.
“It’s how you portray yourself to the media, right? I think that for most of us – or maybe for most of the peloton – if something is happening you just learn how to deal with it and find solutions for it,” the Polish champion said.
“Not every time you want to be heard from all different sources. I think if we deal with something we deal with it internally and we try to figure it out ourselves, and keep it for ourselves for the most part.”
Fellow GC hopeful, SD Worx-Protime’s Anna van der Breggen, also weighed in. “I think it is something that is coming out because you need your teammates in this race, way more than in years before,” she said.
“Sometimes more respect is needed to not disturb a train of one team, this is something that is new for some riders. We know everybody wants to be in front. It’s a mix of having respect and realizing that everyone wants to be there in the final. Don’t do anything that’s irresponsible in the final, don’t push people out, but you can fight for your spot also.”
When asked by Velo how FDJ-Suez plan on keeping Vollering insulated from all the outside noise, Delcourt said: “We protect her as a leader during the race, everybody is around Demi, and everybody believes in her. She’s a great leader, and she’s always able to lead and to support her teammates.
“Off the bike we have got really good medical, support and marketing staff for her, and she was smiling yesterday and that is the most important thing for me.”
At the end of stage 5, Visma’s GC rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is second in the GC, 18 seconds shy of leader Kim Le Court Pienaar. Vollering is third, a further five seconds back.
Also see:
Incredible finale – the race is really heating up as the course gets harder and harder…
velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-ra…