Demi Vollering, the 29-year-old Dutch rider, has been named the pragmatic favourite for this year’s Tour de France Femmes. The race is set to begin in Lausanne on Saturday.
Vollering, who leads the FDJ United-Suez team, is the first €1m athlete in women’s racing. This year, she completed a grand slam of all three of Europe’s Grand Tours.
Vollering won the Tour de France Femmes in 2023 but finished second in both 2024 and 2025. Her team manager, Stephen Delcourt, stated that a change in schedule, which included a three-week training camp in Tignes, has left her fresh and focused for the main goal.
This year’s key mountain stage will feature the Tour de France Femmes' first-ever visit to Mont Ventoux, a climb Vollering knows well from her teenage years. She described Ventoux as where she discovered her climbing skills and found that riding uphill suited her as an athlete.