Vollering eventually speaks to cycling press after extremely unpleasant day at Tour de France Femmes

It was already visible on the footage: Vollering, who had previously indicated that she would no longer suppress her feelings, was emotional. Logical, when you end up on the asphalt and plummet to place nine in the overall ranking. Partly for this reason, the South Holland leading lady of SD Worx-Protime did not want to speak to any members of the cycling newsroom afterward.

Fortunately, other protagonists within the world's best women's team did respond. "I didn't see it because I was riding from the front. I hadn't heard it at first either because I heard so much," European champion Mischa Bredewold - who did a little turn at the service of Vollering in the ultimate closing stages - told me immediately afterward. Until I heard, "Demi has fallen, Mischa. Wait." Then I stopped and waited."

"Demi would be my last lead-out on the climb, so I said to Demi, I'll stay with you," Lorena Wiebes explained. "I had no idea what happened because they were all on the ground when we turned the corner."

For Vollering, the damage - at least, at first glance - did not seem to be too bad (and fortunately so! ). The all-rounder seemed to struggle mainly with abrasions (on the buttock). "I think Demi's arrears are repairable under normal circumstances," team manager Danny Stam predicted.