“We need a good night for her,” says team manager Stephen Delcourt of what the incident might mean for the team’s GC ambitions with its star rider.
Cor Vos, Georgie Howe
Running up the hill to the FDJ-Suez bus, I’m out of breath. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has delivered the drama, again. Demi Vollering of FDJ-Suez has crashed on stage 3. Badly.
At 3.7 km to go on a sprint day, the 2023 Tour champion and one of the top favourites for this year’s overall title is taken out on a right turn off a bridge, in a massive pileup that sees many a sprinter and GC contender hit the deck. Chaos ensues. I hurry out of the press room as the TV shows Vollering’s teammates push her along the road to finish the stage. I need to get to that bus before they do.
I arrive and find my way to the front of the throng. The press are starting to gather. Jan de Voogd is there. He is Vollering’s fiancé, standing alongside their dog, Flo. I met De Voogd a few days earlier; now, understandably, he seems agitated. The team’s general manager, Stephen Delcourt, steps down off the team bus.
He looks a picture of French class. Ironed button-up, black sunglasses on. No doubt concern is reflected behind those shades, as his body language is one of anticipation. His star rider, the one banked on taking out the Tour for the French team, has just hit the deck. Hard.
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