Why Demi Vollering apologized to rival Annemiek van Vleuten several times during Dutch National Championships

Following Demi Vollering after crossing the finish line at Watersley might have provided more excitement than the Women's Dutch National Championships itself. Primal cry after cry of joy came from the mouth of the ecstatic SD Worx rider, who won a challenging edition of the title race. The raw emotion was captured by IDLProcycling.com

A high five, "fuck," "How did you do it, Demi, how did you do it?", "AAAH Wiebes," "Sh*t, I stepped on your glasses," "sweat in my eyes," and a big hug for her dog; these were just some of the cries and hugs the Dutch cyclist hurled out after winning the Dutch championship. "I gave everything, man, but I'm exhausted. This is so beautiful," exclaimed the winner as her initial reaction.

"The entire season went so well and when that happens, you want to win that jersey for the team too," Vollering said. "We had a great opportunity here with the team, with Lorena. Honestly, I didn't believe in it that much because I didn't feel super," added the winner, who surprised herself with her effort. "I saw my moment and just went for it. Then I thought: f*ck, now I have a gap, now I have to keep pushing and pull through."

"The gap remained at ten seconds the whole time, and at some point, I heard from the team car: Demi, you can stop now," Vollering articulated, recalling the moment when she got help from her teammates. "But Mischa Breedewold told me to keep riding, so then they said from the car: okay, Deem, if you see the gap growing, you can just keep going. So I kept riding full, full speed without looking back."

Vollering showers opponents with praise

"When you're pushing yourself till the breaking point like that, you know what awaits you at the finish line. That's addictive and the most beautiful thing," Vollering said, also having kind words for her competitors Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health, but an additional SD Worx teammate on Saturday) and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar). "Marit is a real top rider. Together with Femke, she gave everything, they kept coming back every time. Those girls really pushed themselves to the limit for us. Marit is a good friend to all of us; we spent ten days bikepacking together at Parkhotel Valkenburg. She's a friend for life."

Van Vleuten tested Vollering early in the race, and they rode together as a duo for a while. However, their two-person attack didn't make it all the way to Sittard. "I expected Annemiek to make a move there. It was the toughest part of the course, with many tough climbs one after the other. If she had to make a move, that was the place. That's where she could turn it into an endurance battle. It was early, but Annemiek has done that before."

Vollering even apologized to her opponent. "Now I could fortunately keep up, although I did say sorry to her a few times. I couldn't ride alongside her. Lorena and Mischa were behind her, so I obviously couldn't ride with her, but she knows that too. It wouldn't benefit Annemiek to keep pushing, she would just exhaust herself," explained Vollering, who has a lot of respect for the world champion. "That's the great thing about Annemiek; she always tries and gives it her all."