Demi Vollering ended a four-year streak for SD Worx-Protime at Strade Bianche, outsprinting her former coach, Anna van der Breggen, to earn her first WorldTour win as an FDJ-Suez rider.
The 28-year-old, who previously won the Italian Classic in 2023, attacked Van der Breggen with 400m to go on the final climb of the Via Santa Caterina. Afterwards, she hugged her team boss, Stephen Delcourt, smiling as she shouted “we f****** did it!” into the Tuscan air.
The two Dutchwomen shot away from the rest of the pack on the final gravel sector, within 20km from the line. Steely faced, the duo swapped through turns, coming to a final showdown on the race's closing ramp.
Having taken pole position at the foot of the climb, Van der Breggen proved helpless to Vollering's final blow, which saw her float away to win by 18 seconds.
“I’m super happy. I knew I was good beforehand, and everyone expected it from me before the race already started, but to do it is another thing," Vollering said.
"You have so much pressure, and you really, really want to finish it off, not only for yourself, but for your teammates, family, friends, everybody that’s behind you.”
When the Dutchwoman won the race two years ago, she did so in a two-up sprint with her then teammate Lotte Kopecky. This time, she was up was against another ally, her former coach and sports director during her time at SD Worx-Protime, who has now returned to the peloton from a three-year retirement.
“It’s fun to race against Anna," Vollering said. "It feels like the old days when I started, so it’s a good reminder for myself how much I’ve grown over the years. It’s good to battle it out against her again.”
How it happened
In the absence of the defending champion, Kopecky, the toughest edition ever of the women’s Strade Bianche left Siena on Saturday morning on a 136km out-and-back loop. The course offered 13 gravel sectors – up from eight last year – totalling 50.3km.
The first snippet of drama came with 61km to go, when pre-race favourite Vollering suffered a flat tire. After dismounting, the Dutchwoman soon rejoined the peloton, but the moment stood as a reminder of the terrain’s unpredictability.
It wasn’t only the gravel that posed its risks. On a sweeping right-hand bend 50km from the line, Tour de France avec Zwift champion Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) crashed on the tarmac and into a barrier. She was quickly attended to by doctors, but had to abandon the race, which accelerated away up the road.
The bad luck then befell another key contender in Pauline Ferrand Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike). Having shot across to a small front group, Ferrand-Prévot took charge of pushing the pace – too hard, it seemed, as she slid out on a corner. The Frenchwoman then sprung back to her feet and dashed back to lead the breakaway again, blood seeping from her thigh and elbow.
Unwilling to risk a repeat of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where the leash to the breakaway snapped and the leaders rode away, Juliette Labous (Groupama FDJ) began ploughing into the one-minute deficit inside the final 20km.
Labous’s teammate, Vollering, chose the penultimate gravel sector, Colle Pinzuto, as her launchpad to bridge across. The attack, however, didn’t prove as impactful as hoped, unable to shake off Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Van der Breggen.
"My chain dropped, so that was a cross through that plan," Vollering later explained of the stunted move. "I just kept calm, Juliette was there again, and she did another really strong lead-out. I went again full gas."
By that time, the Dutchwoman's group had joined with Ferrand-Prévot's at the front of the race, and Van der Breggen had slung-shot herself clear on the descent of the final stretch of gravel. The road then kicked up again, allowing Vollering to claw her way back to the front, and set up the finale with her former coach.
It was the FDJ-Suez rider who led under the flamme rouge and onto the Via Santa Caterina. Van der Breggen then took pole position, but fell victim to a trademark Vollering kick with 400m to go.
"She’s the best rider in the world for a finish line like this," FDJ-Suez team boss Delcourt said afterwards. The 18-second time difference across the line stood as testament to the point.
With a smile on her face, Van der Breggen crossed the line in second, only her sixth race day since returning. "I'm really happy that I was able to do this until deep into the final," she said afterwards.
Ferrand-Prévot finished third, almost two minutes in arrears.
Results
Strade Bianche Donne 2025 (136km)
1. Demi Vollering (Ned), FDJ-Suez, in 3:49:04
2. Anna van der Breggen (Ned), SD Worx-Protime, +18s
3. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra), Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:42
4. Juliette Labous (Fra), FDJ-Suez, at same time
5. Mavi García (Esp), Liv AlUla Jayco, +1:47
6. Yara Kastelijn (Ned), Fenix-Deceuninck, +1:48
7. Puck Pieterse (Ned), Fenix-Deceuninck, +1:49
8. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl), Lidl Trek, +1:54
9. Noemi Rüegg (Sui), EF Education-Oatly, +1:55
10. Silke Smulders (Ned), Liv AlUla Jayco, +1:59
