Demi Vollering bizarrely missed the overall victory in the Tour of the Basque Country on Sunday. The Dutch started the final stage with just under a minute ahead of Marlen Reusser, but awarded the final victory to her Swiss teammate.
The third and final stage in the Basque Country was spectacular and took the peloton over 114.8 kilometers to and from Donostia. Along the way, the riders faced the Jaizkibel (first category) and a second category climb.
On that last col, Annemiek van Vleuten jumped away from a large group at 30 kilometers from the finish. Only Vollering could keep up with her compatriot’s pace. The two Dutch riders were taken back on the flat part by Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Olivia Baril and Reusser, Vollering’s teammate at SD Worx.
Moments later, the 31-year-old Reusser went on the attack and she quickly made a big gap. The Swiss had to make up 56 seconds on Vollering and already had that lead with a few kilometers to go.
In the end, Reusser crossed the finish line with a big lead and she also took the overall victory. The chasing group completely lost it when Reusser had crossed the line. Vollering won the sprint for second place in more than 2.5 minutes, while Van Vleuten finished fifth.
End of Vollering’s undefeated status in the Basque Country
In the final classification, Reusser held Vollering almost two minutes behind him and Niewiadoma almost three minutes. Van Vleuten also finished fifth in the standings. Loes Adegeest (eighth), Eva van Agt (ninth) and Pauliena Rooijakkers (tenth) were the other Dutch riders in the top ten.
“I can’t believe it. Our tactical plan worked out perfectly”, Reusser exulted after her victory. “I asked Demi how she felt about it if I took the overall victory through a tactical move and she granted me. It turned out, because when she was the only one to follow Annemiek, she stuck to our plan and waited for me. She is a true champion.”
Vollering said she was happy for Reusser, even if she didn’t win herself because of that. “I win when the team wins. I’m so happy for Marlen. It’s harder for her to win games. Then she has to put in a really strong attack. I’ve already won so much this season. We win together and that’s the bottom line only thing that matters to me.”
Reusser’s victory also marked the end of 26-year-old Vollering’s undefeated status in the Tour of the Basque Country. In recent days, the Pijnackers won the first and second stage. Last year she won all stages and the final classification at the first edition.
Vollering is having a very strong season. She previously won the Amstel Gold Race, the Walloon Arrow and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, among others. Last week, the Dutch had to leave the overall victory in the Vuelta Femenina to Van Vleuten. That happened after a heated battle, in which a wrongly timed pee break became fatal to Vollering.
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2023-05-14 17:09:55