Days after coming up short at the Amstel Gold Race, FDJ United-Suez took no chances, delivering their leader to another stunning victory.
The Mur de Huy pitches to such a high gradient that only the strongest in the peloton can take victory atop it. Year after year, Demi Vollering has been at the top of the sport. For the last four years, she has finished on the podium of the race with a win in 2023.
On Wednesday, the European champion rode away from a handful of the strongest riders in the world to take a second edition of the midweek Classic.
The victory came days after the FDJ United-Suez rider rode to third at the Amstel Gold Race, a race she won in 2023 as well. On Sunday, Vollering and one of her main rivals, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney of Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto, sprinted to fill out the podium behind a solo Paula Blasi of UAE Team ADQ. On Wednesday, FDJ United-Suez wasn’t going to play games.
Early in the race, they sent one of their top riders, Evita Muzic, into a large breakaway. When the race was closing in on the final climbs, they controlled a breakaway of two that was headed into the final 28 km with a 50-second advantage, and into the base of the Mur de Huy, it was Vollering’s right-hand woman, Elise Chabbey, who made sure her leader was in prime position.
“I am really happy to win it,” Vollering said after the race. “In an impressive way, I guess. I had no idea what happened behind, I never looked back.”
“I only looked back just before the finish when I saw Puck [Pieterse] coming, so I was like, ‘Oh my God, I still need to do a sprint, I guess.’ I really trust my own pace, and I didn’t have any regrets afterwards.”
This post is for paying subscribers only
Subscribe now
Already have an account? Sign in
Did we do a good job with this story?
👍Yep
👎Nope