Annemiek van Vleuten is keenly aware that she and compatriot Demi Vollering have been positioned against one another as the two overwhelming favourites at this year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Speaking with the media at the Maison des Sports – Place des Bughes on Saturday in Clermont-Ferrand, Van Vleuten, who lines up as the defending champion, stressed that she hoped the race for the yellow jersey will play out between more than just two riders on the roads to Pau.
“I hope that we have more riders going for the GC with a bigger battle than Demi Vollering and me, we need more nationalities fighting each other in the finals to keep the races more interesting,” Van Vleuten said.
“I hope it will be a mistake, so far, if you see through the spring and on the uphill, maybe it’s realistic to say that it will be a duel and people love to see it. But sometimes, we underestimate, a bit, the other competitors. I hope there will be more competitors that make our lives really hard and that we see a battle on the Tourmalet.”
Van Vleuten named several riders who she felt could also be contenders for the overall classification, including Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ) and time trial specialist Marlen Reusser (SD Worx).
“If you are not on team Demi Vollering and not on team Annemiek, then for sure, you are going to make a plan for the first six stages to disturb that battle between Demi and me, so I expect some fireworks, and that is also what makes the racing nice.”
Van Vleuten won the overall title last year by a 3:48 over Vollering last year but revealed that she felt Vollering was the stronger of the two, given her success at the Ardennes Classics and in the high mountains at La Vuelta Femenina, where she won stage 7 atop Lagos de Covadonga.
She said that she isn’t as confident going into the Tour de France Femmes as she was last year.
“No, for sure not, especially because Demi Vollering showed this year that she is the number one favourite, I think. She is at a super strong level, and I was not able to beat her [on the climbs at La Vuelta]. In the end, I did win La Vuelta, but it was also a special situation, and on the uphills, she showed that she was stronger,” Van Vleuten said.
“I think she is the favourite. I know that I had the same preparations as last year and that I’m at least better than I was at La Vuelta. I recharged my batteries, and I’m ready for the battle. I’m curious, but I know that I did everything I could to be…
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