Not only was the Tour de France route for men announced this Wednesday in Paris, but also the route for the women. In the Tour de France Femmes, the peloton will race on Dutch soil for four out of the eight days, which defending champion Demi Vollering was of course all too happy to see. She took the time in the Palais des Congres in Paris to look ahead to the upcoming Tour de France Femmes with IDLProCycling.com!
"It feels very strange," the SD Worx rider - who had been prominently seated next to Jonas Vingegaard during the presentation - told me after seeing herself on the big screen in a video that included a glance back at her victory of last year. "I did have a bit of an emotional moment when I saw myself back on the big screen, with that victory on the Tourmalet. That's just very beautiful and it makes me want to race again."
Vollering overjoyed with Tour de France Femmes course: "Can't wait for the day to come"
The ladies will start on Monday, August 12th in Rotterdam, with a 124-kilometer stage finishing in The Hague. The following day, there are two stages on the schedule: a 67-kilometer stage from Dordrecht to Rotterdam, and a separate 6.3-kilometer stage through the streets of Rotterdam. Vollering was very pleased with this route.
"The course couldn't have been better for me," she said with a big smile. "I come from the Rotterdam region, and all my family and friends still live in that area, so when I saw the route, I recognized so many training roads. That's very special, of course. I can't wait for the day to come. I still need to keep myself calm for the next few months because it's still a long way until the start of the Tour de France Femmes. But I'm super excited!"
"After that, we're heading into Limburg, which is also special for me because I became Dutch champion there and won the Amstel Gold Race," continued the proud winner of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes, speaking about the fourth stage between Valkenburg and Liège. "And then to Belgium, with the course of Liège-Bastogne-Liège... that's one of the races that is very dear to my heart, so I'm really looking forward to it."
In stage five, the peloton starts in Bastogne, from where the women head towards Amnéville. The sixth stage can then be classified as a transitional stage, following which we head into the Alps for the seventh stage. Saturday will feature a finish at Le-Grand-Bornand, with the absolute climax on Sunday being the Alpe d'Huez.
"Alpe d'Huez is the icing on the cake," Vollering said, taking us on a trip down memory lane to emphasize her words. "That's the climb I first heard of as a little girl because it's very famous in the Netherlands, of course. It's a climb I've wanted to do my whole life. Alpe d'Huez has been at the top of my list for a long time. Now I'm finally going there, and during the Tour de France Femmes as well, so it's very special!"
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