.jpg) Vollering in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Adriana Geertruida Vollering |
| Born | (1996-11-15)15 November 1996 (age 29) Pijnacker, Netherlands |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | FDJ United–Suez |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional teams | |
| 2019–2020 | Parkhotel Valkenburg[1][2] |
| 2021–2024 | SD Worx |
| 2025–2026 | FDJ–Suez |
| Major wins | |
Major Tours
Other
| |
Adriana Geertruida "Demi"Vollering (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈdeːmiˈvɔlərɪŋ]; born 15 November 1996) is a Dutch professionalracing cyclist who rides forUCI Women's WorldTeamFDJ–Suez.[3] Considered one of the greatest riders of her generation,[4][5] she has achieved major successes in bothone-day classics andstage races.
In themonuments, she has won two editions ofLiège–Bastogne–Liège, in 2021 and 2023.[6] The latter completed an "Ardennes triple" of winning theAmstel Gold Race,La Flèche Wallonne andLiège–Bastogne–Liège in the same season, becoming only the second woman in history to achieve this feat.[7] She won theTour de France Femmes in2023 and has twice won the general classification atLa Vuelta Femenina, in2024 and2025.[6]
In 2023 and 2025, she topped the year-endUCI world rankings, winning the prestigiousVélo d'Or in 2023.[8][9]
Adriana Geertruida Vollering, known by theroepnaam "Demi", was born in Pijnacker, Netherlands on 15 November 1996. She is the oldest of four siblings, including fellow cyclist Bodine Vollering who made her professional debut withVolkerWessels Cycling Team in 2025.[10][11]
Following in the footsteps of her flower-growing family, Vollering initially worked as a florist and earned a qualification in Floral Design.[12]
Until 2019, Vollering also trained inspeed skating, competing nationally in the Netherlands.[13] As a youngster, speed skating was her primary sport, and it was only in 2017, after acycling holiday to theArdennes that her partner convinced her to focus on the sport full-time.[10]
Having raced in 2018 as an amateur with the domesticSwaboLadies.nl team, Vollering signed her first professional contract in 2019 with Dutch teamParkhotel Valkenburg.[14]
Her first spring campaign as a professional cyclist was a successful one, with top-10 finishes at theAmstel Gold Race,La Flèche Wallonne and a first monument podium atLiège–Bastogne–Liège.[15]
In May 2019, Vollering achieved her first professional victory: a 2.7km prologue at theFestival Elsy Jacobs in Luxembourg, taking the leader's jersey in the process.[16] She followed this up in October 2019, with a second pro win at theGiro dell'Emilia, beating Elisa Longo Borghini in a two-rider sprint at the top of theMadonna di San Luca climb.[17]
In theCOVID-19 affected 2020 season, Vollering continued to impress in WorldTour races, coming third at bothLa Course by Le Tour de France andLa Flèche Wallonne, in addition to top-10 results on the cobbles atGent–Wevelgem and theTour of Flanders.[18]
Following two successful seasons with Parkhotel Valkenburg, it was announced that Vollering would be joiningUCI WorldTeamSD Worx from the 2021 season onwards.[19]
Vollering started the season strongly with top-10 finishes atStrade Bianche and theTour of Flanders.[20] She then finished as runner-up atDe Brabantse Pijl, celebrating as she crossed the line only to find out she had been pipped byRuth Winder's late bike throw.[21]
In theArdennes classics, Vollering started the week with an impressive second place toMarianne Vos at theAmstel Gold Race, followed by a tenth-place finish atLa Flèche Wallonne.[20] Vollering then took her first careermonument victory atLiège–Bastogne–Liège, winning the sprint from a five-rider group containingAnnemiek van Vleuten,Elisa Longo Borghini,Kasia Niewiadoma and teammateAnna van der Breggen.[22]
At what was to be thefinal edition ofLa Course by Le Tour de France, Vollering took her secondWorldTour victory of the season, winning the sprint inLanderneau from an eight-rider group.[23]
In July, Vollering took her first podium inmajor tour at theGiro in Italy, finishing in third place behind her teammatesAnna van der Breggen andAshleigh Moolman-Pasio. This included second-place finishes on the stage 4time trial toCascata del Toce and the stage 9 summit finish upMonte Matajur.[24]
Vollering competed in theroad race at the delayed2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, placing 25th. She also achieved top-10 finishes in theUEC European Championships andUCI World Championships road races.[20]
In October, Vollering won her first career stage race atThe Women's Tour. After helping teammateAmy Pieters claimed victory on stage 1, Vollering took the leader's jersey by winning the stage 3 by winning 16.6km stage 3time trial inAtherstone, putting more than a minute into her competitors in the process.[25]
Vollering had a strong spring classics campaign, winningDe Brabantse Pijl, coming second atOmloop het Nieuwsblad and theAmstel Gold Race, and taking the third spot on the podium atLa Flèche Wallonne andLiège–Bastogne–Liège.[26]
In the inaugural edition ofItzulia Women, Vollering won all three stages and the general classification.[27] The following week at theVuelta a Burgos, Vollering took victory in the final stage to Lagunas de Neila, finishing third overall behindJuliette Labous andÉvita Muzic.[28]
Vollering's impressive results meant she went into thefirst edition of the rebootedwomen's Tour de France as one of the two big favourites alongsideAnnemiek van Vleuten.[29] She finished the race as the runner-up to Van Vleuten after consecutive second-place finishes on stages 7 and 8 in theVosges mountains. In the process, she won the iconicpolka dot jersey as the leading rider in the mountains classification.[30]
In September, Vollering added her fourth stage race podium of the season, finishing in third place overall at theChallenge by La Vuelta.[31]
The 2023 season saw Vollering complete her rise to superstardom with one of the most dominant years in cycling history.[32]
In March, Vollering won her firstStrade Bianche on the white gravel roads of Tuscany in aphoto finish ahead of teammateLotte Kopecky. The race was noted for a dramatic incident with 16 kilometres to go, when a horse ran onto the course in front of Vollering, briefly holding her up on the narrow stretch of road.[33]
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Vollering added a second victory of the season in her next race atDwars door Vlaanderen, before finishing as runner-up to her teammate Kopecky in the first monument of the season at theTour of Flanders.[34] Another second place followed atDe Brabantse Pijl, as Vollering was beaten in a sprint inOverijse bySilvia Persico.[35]
The following week, Vollering became just the fourth rider in history (after menDavide Rebellin andPhilippe Gilbert, and former teammateAnna van der Breggen) to win the "Ardennes triple" of theAmstel Gold Race,La Flèche Wallonne andLiège–Bastogne–Liège in the same season.[7] At the Amstel Gold Race, Vollering cemented another SD Worx one-two ahead of Lotte Kopecky, soloing to victory in the final kilometres after a late attack over the top of theCauberg.[36] A few days later at La Flèche Wallonne, Vollering attacked from a reduced group at the bottom of theMur de Huy to take a dominant victory.[37] Vollering completed the Ardennes triple in Liège by outsprintingElisa Longo Borghini in a two-up finish.[38]
Vollering's electric form did not slow as racing moved to Spain after the early-season classics. AtLa Vuelta, she took the leader'sred jersey after winning stage 5 to the Mirador de Peñas Llanas inRiaza.[39] She would then lose the jersey on stage 6 in a controversial incident. Having stopped for anature break and not yet returned to thepeloton,Movistar and their leaderAnnemiek van Vleuten upped the pace in a section ofcrosswinds, splitting the peloton and leaving Vollering and herSD Worx teammates chasing for the following 70 kilometres to the finish. She was able to limit her losses on the stage to one minute and four seconds but this meant losing the general classification lead to Van Vleuten heading into the final stage.[40] On stage 7, Vollering distanced Van Vleuten on the final climb toLagos de Covadonga, winning the stage and securing ten bonus seconds. However, she was unable to overhaul the entirety of her deficit, ultimately finishing the race in second place, just nine seconds behind the winner Van Vleuten.[41]
In the following Spanish races, Vollering won the first two stages ofItzulia Women (making her the winner of the first five stages in the race's history), before taking second place on the final stage and finishing as runner-up to teammateMarlen Reusser in the general classification.[42] She then went one better at theVuelta a Burgos, winning another two stages on her way to the overall race victory.[43]
In June, Vollering finished second to teammate Reusser in the general classification at theTour de Suisse.[44] She then claimed her first careerDutch National Road Race Championship, launching an attack on the final lap of a hilly route aroundSittard.[45]
At theTour de France Femmes avec Zwift, it was once again Vollering and Van Vleuten who were expected to battle it out for theyellow jersey in a renewal of their blossoming rivalry.[46] Going into the final two stages, it was Vollering's SD Worx teammateLotte Kopecky who held the race lead, with a 55-second lead over Van Vleuten and fellow contenderKasia Niewiadoma, with Vollering a further 12 seconds in arrears.[47] Stage 7 was aPyrenean epic, and atop theCol d'Aspin with 30 kilometres remaining, only Vollering, Van Vleuten and Niewiadoma remained at the head of the race. Vollering and Van Vleuten marked each other profusely, allowing Niewiadoma to steal a march into the final climb up theCol du Tourmalet. Yet it was Vollering who dealt the killer blow, launching an attack with 5.5km to go, and arriving at the top through the mist with an almost two-minute gap over second-placed Niewiadoma.[48] Wearing the yellow jersey on stage 8 inPau, Vollering rode a strongtime trial to finish in second place on the stage and secure her firstmajor tour general classification victory.[49]
Following her Tour de France win, Vollering claimed thesilver medal behindLotte Kopecky at theUCI World Championships road race inGlasgow and later thebronze medal at theUCI Gravel World Championships inVeneto.[34] She also won a stage and the overall classification at theTour de Romandie.[50]
Vollering's dominant season saw her top the year-endUCI world rankings and she was awarded the prestigiousVélo d'Or.[8][9]
Following on from herannus mirabilis in 2023, Vollering went through the entire spring classics campaign without raising her arms in victory. She began her season atOmloop het Nieuwsblad with a sixth-place finish, followed third place atStrade Bianche and eighth place at theTour of Flanders, before rounding out the spring classics with back-to-back podium finishes as runner-up atLa Flèche Wallonne and third place atLiège–Bastogne–Liège.[51]
Vollering quickly put to bed any doubts about her form, by dominating the Spanish stage racing block.[52][53] She took her first win of the season atLa Vuelta on the stage 5 summit finish inJaca, moving into the race leader'sred jersey. She finished as runner up toÉvita Muzic on the following stage to Laguna Negra, before taking another stage victory and securing the general classification on stage 8 toValdesquí.[54] She followed this win up by winning a stage and the overall title atItzulia Women, as well as two stages and the general classification at theVuelta a Burgos.[51]
In June, Vollering continued her stage race dominance by winning three out of four stages and the general classification at theTour de Suisse.[55]
Vollering was considered the red-hot favourite heading into theTour de France in August.[56] She took a surprise win in the flat 6.3kmindividual time trial inRotterdam on stage 3 to move into theyellow jersey before the race had even reached French soil.[57] The next day, she finished second toPuck Pieterse in a hilly stage that featured the same finale asLiège–Bastogne–Liège.[58] Vollering saw her luck change when the race entered France on stage 5. She came down in a mass crash with just 6 kilometres to go, causing her to lose one minute and 47 seconds in the general classification. Vollering slipped to ninth overall, one minute and 19 seconds behind the new yellow jersey wearerKasia Niewiadoma.[59][60] Despite her injuries, Vollering remained in the race, entering the mountainous final stage with a deficit of one minute and 15 seconds to Niewiadoma. On theCol du Glandon, the first of twohors catégorie climbs, Vollering attacked from the peloton withPauliena Rooijakkers, distancing Niewadoma. Although Rooijakkers herself had moved into the virtual lead of the race, she refused to work with Vollering in the valley as the chasing group ate into the gap and they came to the foot of the final climb upAlpe d'Huez just 43 seconds ahead over Niewidoma. With Vollering in visible discomfort from the injuries she had suffered a few days prior, she was nonetheless able to increase the gap to Niewiadoma. After closing down an attack by Rooijakkers with 2.5km to go, Vollering won the sprint for the stage win, taking ten bonus seconds to Rooijakkers' six, thus moving ahead of her in the general classification. However, it proved not enough, as Niewiadoma crossed the stage finish line one minute and one second back. Vollering finished the race in second place, a mere four seconds behind the winner.[61]
Upon returning to her home in Switzerland after the Tour de France, medical tests revealed that Vollering had in fact been riding with a fracturedcoccyx from the crash on stage 5.[62]
At theTour de Romandie in September, in what was to be her final race forSD Worx, Vollering won the stage 2 summit finish atVercorin and finished second overall behind her teammateLotte Kopecky.[63]
Vollering closed out her season at theUCI Road World Championships in Zürich. She won the silver medal in theindividual time trial, 16 seconds behind Grace Brown, and finished fifth in theroad race.[51]
After four seasons with SD Worx, Vollering signed a two-year contract with French teamFDJ–Suez, bringingSpecialized andNike with her as new sponsors.[64]
Vollering got off to an excellent start with her new team, winning stage 1 and the general classification of theSetmana Ciclista Valenciana in February.[65]
In the spring classics, Vollering finished third atOmloop Nieuwsblad before winningStrade Bianche for the second time in her career. Vollering also came fourth in theinaugural women's Milano–Sanremo, second inLa Flèche Wallonne and third atLiège–Bastogne–Liège.[66]
OverallThe Women's Tour
Team relay
OverallItzulia Women
Points classification
Mountains classification
Mountains classification
OverallUCI World Tour
Road race, National Championships OverallTour de France OverallVuelta a Burgos Mountains classification OverallTour de Romandie
Road race,UCI World Championships after Stage 5
Mountains classification OverallLa Vuelta Femenina
Mountains classification OverallItzulia Women Points classification OverallVuelta a Burgos Mountains classification Points classification OverallTour de Suisse Points classification after Stages 3–4
Combativity award Stage 8 & OverallTime trial
Road race,UEC European Championships OverallLa Vuelta Femenina Mountains classification
OverallVolta a Catalunya
Points classification
Mountains classification OverallItzulia Women Mountains classification
OverallSetmana Ciclista Valenciana
Time trial| Major Tour results timeline | |||||||||||||||
| Stage race | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Vuelta Femenina[note 1] | — | — | — | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Giro d'Italia Women | 13 | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Tour de France Femmes | Race did not exist | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Stage race results timeline | |||||||||||||||
| Stage race | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||||||||
| Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs | 2 | NH | — | 4 | — | — | — | ||||||||
| The Women's Tour | 5 | 1 | — | NH | — | — | |||||||||
| Vuelta a Burgos | — | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | |||||||||
| Simac Ladies Tour[note 2] | — | 5 | — | DNF | — | — | |||||||||
| Itzulia Women | Race did not exist | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Tour of Scandinavia[note 3] | 60 | — | — | DNF | — | NH | — | ||||||||
| Tour de Romandie Féminin | Race did not exist | 16 | 1 | 2 | — | ||||||||||
| Tour de Suisse | Race not held | — | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Monument | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | Not held | 4 | |||||
| Tour of Flanders | — | 7 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 8 | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | DNE | NH | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | 3 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Classic | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | — | — | 13 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 3 |
| Strade Bianche | — | 20 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Ronde van Drenthe | — | NH | — | — | — | — | NH |
| Trofeo Alfredo Binda | 17 | NH | — | — | — | — | 11 |
| Gent–Wevelgem | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | — | — | — | 1 | 96 | — |
| Brabantse Pijl | — | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — |
| Amstel Gold Race | 7 | NH | 2 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 20 |
| La Flèche Wallonne | 5 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Event | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olympic Games | Time trial | Not held | — | Not held | 5 | NH | ||||
| Road race | 25 | 34 | ||||||||
 World Championships | Time trial | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| Road race | — | — | 56 | 35 | 7 | DNS | 2 | 5 | 7 | |
| European Championships | Mixed relay | Did not exist | — | — | 3 | NH | — | — | — | |
| Road race | — | — | 33 | 10 | 5 | — | 10 | — | 1 | |
| National Championships | Time trial | — | 21 | 22 | NH | 6 | — | 2 | 3 | — |
| Road race | 49 | 22 | 53 | 10 | 9 | 20 | 1 | 24 | 72 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Not held |
| DNE | Did not exist |
UCI World Championships
Tour de France Femmes general classification winners | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
