Delcourt, the manager of the French team, brandished other competitors as \u201ctruly disrespectful\u201d as \u201cthey keep cutting her [Vollering] off\u201d when she rides at the front, after the Dutch rider\u2019s fall on stage 3.<\/p>\n
Visma DS Van Emden had responded to Delcourt\u2019s comments by stating that \u201cwhat he\u2019s 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\u2019s simply influenced by Demi, by Demi\u2019s posturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemi really thinks she\u2019s in a gilded cage. Yes, she\u2019s the best cyclist, but that doesn\u2019t mean everyone should make way for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before stage 5, the warring pair and Visma\u2019s head coach Jacco Verhaeren met in the bud paddock for an animated and at times tense 20 minute discussion.<\/p>\n
After it ended, Delcourt first refused to speak to Velo and other media about the conversation, stating that \u201cI don\u2019t want to talk about safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
But moments later he voiced his frustration, stepping up the attacks. \u201cFor me, he\u2019s stupid and only thinks about himself; he has an oversized ego,\u201d he said of Van Emden.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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\u2019re not going to get stuck on an ego contest, but hey, it doesn\u2019t surprise me from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018For most of us, if something is happening you just learn how to deal with it\u2019
\n![\"CHASSENEUIL-DU-POITOU,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2227678380.jpg\")
Niewiadoma gave her thoughts about the situation (Photo: Szymon Gruchalski\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Speaking to Sporza, he added<\/a>: \u201cWhen I talked about a lack of respect, I wasn\u2019t just referring to the crash. It\u2019s been like that since the start of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the first time Van Emden talks like this. For him, it\u2019s all a game. I think he\u2019s a stupid man. That\u2019s all I\u2019ll say.\u201d<\/p>\n No immediate response from Van Emden was forthcoming, but the heated debate continues to reverberate around the peloton.<\/p>\n Defending champion and one of Vollering\u2019s principal rivals for yellow, Kasia Niewiadoma<\/a>, made some pointed remarks after stage 5. She was asked by Velo if her Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto team had an advantage as they hadn\u2019t suffered any injuries or illnesses, and nor were they in the center of a frosty exchange.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s how you portray yourself to the media, right? I think that for most of us \u2013 or maybe for most of the peloton \u2013 if something is happening you just learn how to deal with it and find solutions for it,\u201d the Polish champion said.<\/p>\n \u201cNot 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow GC hopeful, SD Worx-Protime\u2019s Anna van der Breggen<\/a>, also weighed in. \u201cI think it is something that is coming out because you need your teammates in this race, way more than in years before,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes 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\u2019s a mix of having respect and realizing that everyone wants to be there in the final. Don\u2019t do anything that\u2019s irresponsible in the final, don\u2019t push people out, but you can fight for your spot also.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked by Velo how FDJ-Suez plan on keeping Vollering insulated from all the outside noise, Delcourt said: \u201cWe protect her as a leader during the race, everybody is around Demi, and everybody believes in her. She\u2019s a great leader, and she\u2019s always able to lead and to support her teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cOff 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.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of stage 5, Visma\u2019s GC rider Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot is second in the GC, 18 seconds shy of leader Kim Le Court Pienaar. Vollering is third, a further five seconds back.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Also see:<\/p>\n Incredible finale \u2013 the race is really heating up as the course gets harder and harder\u2026<\/p>\n velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-ra\u2026<\/p>\n [image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 VELO (@velo-velo-velo.bsky.social<\/a>) 30 July 2025 at 16:44<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”> Following a verbal volley of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[19491,49,48,635,19488,26496,26497,26498,82,26499,19487,10761],"class_list":["post-35364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-anna-van-der-breggen","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-demi-vollering","tag-fdj-suez","tag-jos-van-emden","tag-kasia-niewiadoma","tag-sports","tag-stephen-delcourt","tag-tour-de-france-femmes","tag-visma-lease-a-bike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}