World Championship as painful symbol of disaster year 2024: we should be more careful with Demi Vollering

And with good reason. Undeniable. Vollering should have realized during the crucial phase in the rounds around Zurich that a World Championship title was probably not feasible. Her sprint confirmed that. It was not good enough compared to the fresh ladies still riding with her. Marianne Vos probably could have won. Yes, yes, yes, yes... That is all true. Vollering knew that too, there in front of the camera of the National Broadcasting Foundation. Gambling on Vos and her companion Riejanne Markus would have given the Netherlands an extra potent weapon in the final stage.

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But Vollering didn't want to wait. Is that because she hates Vos or Markus? Probably not. She tried to win herself. She was a front-runner from the outset. She had indicated she would find it awkward if someone else won, even if someone else wore an orange shirt. And rightly so. A frontwoman has to fight for her chances. The criticism Vollering received as a rational, competitive rider is justified. But the amount of nastiness she received is partly incomprehensible. For that, we look too little at Vollering's personality. We should consider that she thought this should be her World Championship. That is what she was told. That is what she thought.

Instead, the World Championship painfully reflected Vollering's entire year. In a nutshell, in its purest form. 2024 is a year of falling short, of setbacks and difficult decisions. Of developments that happen but perhaps fail to be fully articulated. Lotte Kopecky was the first to renew at SD Worx-Protime. That did not coincide with Vollering. The Tour de France saw other chances for stage wins that did not always align with Vollering's interests. In the Tour de Romandie, we saw it again. The lady from Pijnacker had to sprint for it against her teammate.

"They'll probably ride for her," Vollering concluded after that awkward sprint against Kopecky somewhere on that Swiss mountain. The same atmosphere surrounded the World Championship. Vollering was, on paper, the leading lady, the rider who had to do it. She could defend her chances until after the race, which was all about someone else's chances. The best rider we have in the Netherlands has had a challenging year. She must have felt incredibly alone on many occasions in this cycling year.

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What is remarkable about Vollering is that you can always read from her face what she thinks and feels if she does not already say it herself. That remark in Romandie just happens. Because she thinks so. Vollering often lets the tears flow. Simply because she feels that way. The winner of the Vuelta has no mask. It will disappoint many people how confrontational that comes across, an athlete who whines, even when she is on television. Maybe that is uncomfortable because many people in everyday life tend to apply that brake on tears. If Vollering feels terrible, the whole world can know it. Period.

It's time to protect people, as well as rider Vollering, a little more effectively. For someone who has been cycling in a team for a whole year on paper and is also its leader, she has had very little support at essential moments. From a solid foundation, SD Worx-Protime slowly became a hornet's nest for the Dutchwoman. A World Championship title would have brightened her year, especially after the Tour debacle. That's what she wanted. Nothing more, nothing less. Period. That's why she kept racing, even if it wasn't smart. That deeper layer behind the clumsy course behavior may now prevail.

The question that remains is where Vollering will ride next year. In any case, it will be a team where she can pursue her goals carefree, cheer without restraint when she wins and race for her own success, cry on camera when she fails, and may be the purest version of the person Demi Vollering is, even on the bike.