Demi Vollering goes on the attack at Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux – 07.08.2026: The wind sweeps across the barren summit, the road climbs relentlessly: for Demi Vollering, the stage that this Tour de France has been building towards is beginning. The Dutch rider from FDJ United-Suez starts the seventh stage from La Voulte-sur-Rhone to Mont Ventoux second in the overall standings. After six days of racing, she is twelve seconds behind Marlen Reusser.

There are 146.8 kilometres between the start in the Ardeche and the summit. The finale follows the classic ascent from Bedoin: 15.7 kilometres at an average gradient of 8.8 percent. There is little opportunity for recovery, and tactical manoeuvres become more difficult with every metre of elevation gained. For the first time, a stage of the Tour de France Femmes finishes on Mont Ventoux.

Vollering knows the force of such days. She won the race in 2023; her attack on the Tourmalet was the decisive statement. In 2024, she lost the overall classification after a crash and an exhausting final phase, finishing four seconds behind Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney. A year later, she again had to settle for second place, this time behind Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.

These experiences have changed how she deals with pressure. Vollering appeared more relaxed ahead of this race than in previous years, while her goal remained clear: the yellow jersey in Nice. Her team has raced the demanding stages so far with aggression. On the fifth stage, FDJ United-Suez set the pace in the Beaujolais. Vollering won the stage and took time from several rivals.

However, the Dijon time trial shifted the balance of power. Reusser, the time trial world champion and Vollering’s former teammate at SD Worx, won the stage and took yellow. Vollering finished third, but kept the gap small enough to reach Ventoux from a favourable attacking position. Niewiadoma-Phinney, her nearest pursuer, is already 1:17 minutes behind.

Defending champion Ferrand-Prevot also remains an important benchmark on this terrain. In 2025, the French rider decided the race with a long solo effort on the Col de la Madeleine and put significant time into Vollering. In the current edition, however, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider lost more than two minutes to Reusser in the time trial and conceded further time on the following mountain stage.

On Ventoux, Vollering’s climbing strength meets Reusser’s narrow lead. The Swiss rider must defend the yellow jersey on an ascent less suited to her profile than to Vollering’s. The mountain finish is followed by the stage from Sisteron to Nice on 8 August and the finale in Nice on 9 August.