Demi Vollering’s Future Remains Uncertain as Vuelta Femenina Takes Center Stage
One of the best racers on a bike is leaving one of the best teams on Earth at the end of this season. And, according to SD Worx-Protime general manager Erwin Janssen, superstar Demi Vollering will find her way to FDJ-Suez next year.
“I think she goes to FDJ,” Janssen told GCN. “We read about Lidl-Trek, and I knew that they talked for a long time with them and then UAE, but I read that it stopped. I think FDJ is a possibility. I think they have a connection with Specialized, and we heard that Specialized might be the team’s sponsor for next year. One and one together equals two.”
According to some reports, conversations between Vollering and Lidl-Trek and UAE Team ADQ have not progressed.
Since joining SD Worx-Protime in 2021, Vollering has been one of the women’s WorldTour’s most successful riders. Along with winning last year’s Tour de France Femmes, Vollering’spalmarès includes wins at Amstel Gold, Tour de Romandie, Strade Bianche, Le Flèche Wallonne, Itzulia Basque Country, the Women’s Tour, and a pair of wins at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. However, this year, her final under contract with the star-studded SD Worx, victory has been just out of the 27-year-old Dutchwoman’s reach.
Other than finishing ninety-sixth at Dwars door Vlaanderen and twenty-second at Amstel Gold, Vollering has finished inside the top ten at every other race she’s started this season, including a pair of seconds at Flèche Wallonne and Brabantse Pijl and two thirds at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Those results might be plenty for most other riders, but for Vollering, who swept last year’s Ardennes Classics, podium finished aren’t quite enough. “I know I can do better,” Vollering wrote in a recent Instagram post, one image of which showed her head slumped across her handlebars.
“And I know, still some nice podiums, which I can be proud of, but that’s not what I aimed for,” the caption read. “I thought back to my first pro year, 2019, where I was so incredibly happy with 3rd place. But it isn’t enough anymore, also because I know I can do better.”
The post also alluded to the questions surrounding Vollering’s next destination. “I know everyone (sic) keeps asking me about my future, but I will not tell my story now; I will tell you when I am ready for it,” the caption read. “Now, I focus on now.”
Regardless of where she ends up in 2025, Demi Vollering is an SD Worx-Protime racer now and the focus of her and her team remains on getting her across the line first. “The goal is to win the Vuelta,” Janssen said, speaking of the eight-stage Vuelta Femenina, which starts on Sunday. “With a top athlete, when they don’t win, then the hunger becomes bigger. She also said that last week. I think, for sure, the hunger is bigger, and she wants to show her power and qualities. I really think that next week we’ll see the best of Demi.”
Vollering returns to the Grand Tour after having relinquished the red jersey to the now-retired Annemiek van Vleuten on the race’s penultimate stage last year.
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