Demi Vollering sealed the deal in the Tour of Catalonia with FDJ-Suez on Sunday. The French team also won the third stage. However, the final stage had a small financial sting for Vollering.
Vollering had things under control in all three stages in Catalonia. On Friday, she finished second behind teammate Elise Chabbey, and on Saturday, she won herself. In the final stage on Sunday, FDJ-SUEZ again took the full prize. After lead-out work by Vollering, Loes Adegeest won the sprint.
The overall winner of the Tour crossed the finish line in sixth place, with her right arm in the air. This violated rules that have recently come into effect in cycling: celebrating after a lead-out is no longer allowed for safety reasons, only the winner may cross the line celebrating.
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) already experienced that strict action is taken if this still happens in March. Groves led teammate Jasper Philipsen to victory in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and also celebrated himself, amidst the other sprinters. The Australian received a fine and a yellow card after the finish and was relegated in the final standings.
Vollering already felt it coming when she saw the images of the sprint in Catalonia. “Oops…”, she wrote on Instagram under a photo of Adegeest, in which she could be seen celebrating in the background.
“This photo will cost me 100 Swiss francs, UCI points and my sixth place.” After the stage, Vollering was indeed relegated from sixth to 58th place. “But this is still a great photo, right?”
After this wink, Vollering still took responsibility. “It won’t happen again, I’m going to do my best anyway. It’s hard to get used to this new rule, but I’ll try. I understand that these extra safety measures are being taken.”
Vollering’s overall victory in Catalonia was never in danger on Sunday. The 28-year-old rider from Pijnacker finished more than two minutes ahead of Chabbey and the French Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike) on the podium. Vollering can now focus on the Tour de Frances Femmes, which starts on Saturday, July 26. She will skip the Giro Donne.