Demi Vollering has signed a two-year contract with FDJ-SUEZ that will begin in 2025 and expire at the end of the 2026 season. Vollering joins the French WorldTour team as a co-leader alongside Évita Muzic and new-signing Juliette Labous.
"From the very first meeting with the FDJ-SUEZ team, I immediately had a good feeling. I couldn't get the smile off my face. I'm happy to be embarking on this adventure, to experience something new and to rediscover myself in this team," Vollering said.
"I've always liked the collective fighting spirit of FDJ-SUEZ and its attacking mentality during races. We're going to have a great team and I'm convinced that great things await us."
In an interview with Cyclingnews on Monday, FDJ-SUEZ general manager Stephen Delcourt confirmed that Vollering signed a two-year contract with his team this spring, but that they chose not to announce out of respect for her current team SD Worx-Protime and so that she could focus on her season goals.
"It is important to remember that it is a great day for the FDJ-SUEZ team and it's a great day for cycling, and for French cycling, to be honest, to sign the best rider for the GC in a French team. We can compare the model of cycling, between men's and women's cycling, but it is the first time that a star rider has accepted a deal with the French team," Delcourt told Cyclingnews.
"This has been an ambition for our team and during the last three years, and three editions of the Tour de France our sport has changed a lot. This new ambition for our team is to be not just a team in women's cycling but to be a cycling and sport team in general, for this image, it's impossible to dream bigger than to sign Demi now."
Vollering and FDJ-SUEZ agreement
The timing of Vollering's negotiations and subsequent agreement with FDJ-SUEZ happened after the rumours that surfaced in March that she was offered a €1 million contract and would be departing from SD Worx-Protime at the end of 2024.
At that time, SD Worx Protime team manager Erwin Janssen revealed that the team tried to keep both Vollering and World Champion Lotte Kopecky, after the Koepcky had already signed a long-term extension in February that allowed her to stay with the team through to 2028.
Delcourt confirmed to Cyclingnews that Vollering and FDJ-SUEZ had negotiated and reached a signed agreement by the end of this spring, though he did not provide a specific date.
"The official agreement was signed during the end of the spring, and after that, we decided to focus on my side on my team and on her side on SD Worx, because we felt that, together, it was better to wait [to announce the agreement]. Why? She has a big respect for the SD Worx partners and her teammates. For that, the best was for her to focus on the Olympics, Tour and Worlds, and to wait."
Delcourt did not disclose Vollering's salary agreement with FDJ-SUEZ, however, he confirmed to Cyclingnews, that while her contract is not €1 million, he believes that other teams that were competing for Vollering's signature may have had the financial budget to offer that amount.
"Maybe it was true, but not from my team, maybe from the others. I can't say for the others. We know that anything is possible for a team like UAE."
When asked if there was competition and multiple teams trying to negotiate a contract with Vollering, Delcourt said, "Yes and no,"
"In the beginning, I read all the rumours about Demi and SD Worx; extension and no extension. After the official extension of Lotte Kopecky, I wanted to be close, to know why and what happened with SD Worx. Step by step we discovered every part, and it changed at one moment when I said, 'Maybe now it is time to have a face-to-face meeting with her, and not only her agent.'
"Directly after the first meeting, I was motivated. It was like a new step. She shared a lot about her values and ethics and how she wanted to ride, to be on the team with the riders, staff and sponsors. When I compared that with the values of my team, sponsors - FDJ and SUEZ - which are two big international companies with two women as presidents, and they always say to me that the most important thing is not the result but how we get the result. The most important thing is to inspire the next generation.
"In our step-by-step discussions with Demi, I felt that she was the perfect combination for my team. She can be happy in our team and we can take a new step for the future."
Co-leadership with Labous, Muzic
Vollering started her professional career with Parkhotel Valkenburg in 2019 and then joined SD Worx in 2021.
Vollering won the Tour de France Femmes in 2023. She was also second at the Tour in 2022, won by Annemiek van Vleuten and second overall this year in the event won by Kasia Niewiadoma.
She has also won La Vuelta Femenina and the Ardennes triple: Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, along with numerous other stage races and one-day races.
Delcourt said that Vollering will be a co-leader at FDJ-SUEZ alongside Évita Muzic, who was fourth overall at the Tour de France Femmes this year, and new-signing Juliette Labous, who finished fourth overall in the 2022 edition.
The team also saw departures at the end of this year as long-time co-leaders Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig heads to Canyon-SRAM and Marta Cavalli has not announced her team for 2025.
"During the last three years, it was a good few years and we took the next steps. We rode for our leaders; Grace Brown, who was great for the team because she was good to be the best domestic for the GC leaders Cecilie, Marta and Évita. We arrived at the moment where it was the last year for Grace, and maybe, the end of one era for Marta and Cecilie," Delcourt said.
"Directly, our first priority was Juliette, and she wanted to sign for a team where she could be a leader, but not alone. The project of the team is still around Évita, but not alone, she has been on the team since she was 17 years and we can push her to be better and to support her, with the best riders around her and with her.
"And we always ride like this and Demi will repeat that, every time. That is what she liked at SD Worx, to share the leadership and ride with riders like Marlen Reusser and Lotte Kopecky and Niamh Fisher-Black. We have the same spirit and values; Demi is number one but for Juliette and Évita, if they want to continue to improve.
"Is it better to have Demi as a teammate than to ride against Demi? The answer is easy. We want to ride aggressively at the front together but with more cards."
The transfer should shift the balance in the Women's WorldTour as FDJ-SUEZ seek to rival SD Worx-Protime with World Champion Lotte Kopecky and a returning Anna van der Breggen, Visma-Lease a Bike who signed Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Lidl-Trek and UAE Team ADQ who signed Elisa Longo Borghini.
Asked if he felt FDJ-SUEZ would become the strongest team in 2025 Delcourt said, "Yes, the plan is to be one of the best teams. But we know that the other teams are good, especially since it's difficult to analyse team Visma who have signed Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and SD Worx signed back Anna van der Breggen and have Lotte Kopecky. You can imagine that it will be a good competition.
"We have one of the best teams on paper. The most important now is how we can have the best team for all of the races; Tour de France and Classics, and the most important thing is the synergy of all the riders. We have our three GC leaders: Vollering, Muzic and Labous, but we also have riders Vittoria Guazzini, Elise Chabbey, and Ally Wollaston, riders who are good and can be at the top. If we are good as a team, we have riders for the future and we can win a lot."
The signing of Vollering marks the end of FDJ-SUEZ's recruitment for the 2025 season with a 17-rider roster.
FDJ-SUEZ later released a video on their social media platforms announcing Vollering's two-year contract.
It all begins with a single note. @demivollering commits with the team until 2026. ✍️✨#DemiVollering #FDJSUEZ #ItAllBegins pic.twitter.com/hnF3AyQQ1hOctober 28, 2024
