{"id":510388,"date":"2026-02-28T20:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510388\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T20:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:33:09","slug":"demi-vollering-drew-inspiration-for-her-big-goals-from-jutta-leerdam-an-old-acquaintance-from-a-previous-sporting-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510388\/","title":{"rendered":"Demi Vollering drew inspiration for her big goals from Jutta Leerdam \u2014 an old acquaintance from a previous sporting life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four race days, four wins. You can start a season in worse fashion, Demi Vollering<\/a>. The Dutch leader of FDJ\u2013SUEZ added another line to an already glittering palmar\u00e8s on Saturday in Ninove, winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad<\/a> and ticking off another box<\/a> early in 2026. Afterwards, she had plenty to say about how she has experienced the past few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did expect it from myself that I would do it, but you still have to actually go out and do it,\u201d said a delighted Vollering. \u201cI\u2019m proud \u2014 and proud of the team, who did such a good job on the front all day. I hardly had to do anything, it felt like. It was really nice to do it like that with the girls. We understand each other on the bike, everyone knows what they have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow the girls did that was really beautiful to watch,\u201d she continued. In particular, Franziska Koch paved the way for the European champion with an impressive acceleration on the Muur. \u201cThat was actually a job for Juliette (Berthed, ed.), but that\u2019s the power of a real team effort: stepping in at a moment when people don\u2019t necessarily expect it from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more below the video!<\/p>\n

Vollering explained it to Niewiadoma<\/p>\n

Vollering made the difference at the decisive moment. \u201cThe plan was to go full gas up the Muur, and in the end I saw that only Kasia (Niewiadoma, ed.) was still with me. From there it was full gas to the Bosberg, and then full gas to the finish. Kasia said she wanted to work, but she didn\u2019t really do that straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end she did take really good turns \u2014 and it was also in her interest to stay away together,\u201d Vollering said. \u201cAnd I knew I still had three teammates behind me, so we could have played the game with four as well. Kasia understood that for her it was all or nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She told her escape companion as much \u2014 and then finished it off in the sprint. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to go too early, because the wind was slightly head-on. If you blow yourself up there, you really do blow up. I had to open first, and that turned out to be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis start to the season feels good,\u201d Vollering added. \u201cEven in winter I already had the feeling this could be a really nice year. I feel good \u2014 and you have to stay healthy. So far, that\u2019s been the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more below the video!<\/p>\n

Vollering opted for a different winter approach<\/p>\n

Vollering made changes this winter with that in mind. \u201cYou learn from last year,\u201d she said. What changed? \u201cFor example, we did fewer interviews, because that still costs energy in a certain way. I feel like I started the season fresher because I could really enjoy some quiet time at home and in the mountains,\u201d said the rider who lives in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Less is more, then. \u201cThat way I could properly reset with my boyfriend and our dog Flo. At the same time, I really enjoy preparing myself for the big races \u2014 that was another point,\u201d said Vollering, who is adding the Tour of Flanders back into her programme this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking towards a big goal together with the team gives me loads of energy, too. That\u2019s where my way of celebrating came from. In January we often played a little game \u2014 I don\u2019t even know what it\u2019s called \u2014 where you have to make a connection with each other. We kept using that gesture a lot, and it was super fun as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"demi-vollering-69a3271d37aed\"\/Vollering found inspiration in Leerdam<\/p>\n

The Dutch star has a background in speed skating, and in recent weeks she also drew motivation \u2014 and inspiration \u2014 from the performances of her compatriots at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really special to watch,\u201d Vollering said. \u201cTake Jutta Leerdam, with the pressure she\u2019s had,\u201d she mentioned, referring to her former fellow skater. \u201cHow she had the media and everyone coming at her\u2026 and then she still just does what she\u2019s good at and rides great races.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can relate to how she sometimes feels, so that was really inspiring,\u201d Vollering continued. \u201cI sometimes message her as well, because we used to skate laps together back in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four race days, four wins. You can start a season in worse fashion, Demi Vollering. The Dutch leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,22235,32851,172195,231522,85,23293],"class_list":{"0":"post-510388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-demi-vollering","12":"tag-fdj-suez","13":"tag-idl-productions","14":"tag-omloop-het-nieuwsblad","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-womens-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}