Demi Vollering playing it calm ahead of 2026 Tour de France Femmes - 'Pressure is a privilege'
Updated 31/07/2026 at 23:46 GMT+1
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Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift favourite Demi Vollering was the picture of calm on the eve of the race as she insisted "pressure is a privilege". Vollering has been on the podium in all four editions of the race so far, and won it in brilliant fashion in 2023.
Highlights: Astonishing finale sees Van der Poel victorious as Pogacar secures fifth Tour
Video credit: TNT Sports
Expectations are high of a repeat success for the FDJ United-Suez rider as she goes into nine days of intense competition, which start in Lausanne on Saturday.
Vollering told reporters: "I always like to think pressure is a privilege. It comes for a reason, so it's a good thing to have.
"But of course, it's also a very big motivation for myself to bring that yellow jersey to a French team. I love beautiful stories, and I would love to add these beautiful stories to my list."
Vollering has already enjoyed a stellar 2026, winning the Giro d'Italia Women, along with victories in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
And Vollering believes it's the weight of all that success which gives her a calm outlook going into the biggest week of all.
"I think now what has changed mostly is that I come quite calm into this Tour de France," the 29-year-old said.
"I don't have the feeling that I need to save my season, for example, on this Tour because I've won already so many beautiful races, and I've really enjoyed this whole season with the whole team. We did such a great beginning of the season already."
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With an uphill finish to a fascinating 138km first stage coming up, competition for places will be intense from the start.
Vollering believes that every day will be key in the race, which concludes on August 9.
"It's of course always good to start a Tour in a good way and be in front," Vollering said. "That's always the goal. But this Tour, it's every day so hard.
"Towards the end, there's still so many opportunities – even the last day is going to be super hard – so I think, like what we showed in the Giro, that still everything can change on the last day, for example.
"So you should never give up or be unmotivated. I think it's going to be a fight until the very, very end."
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Demi Vollering celebrates her Giro d'Italia Women victory earlier this year
Image credit: Getty Images
How to watch the 2026 Tour de France Femmes on TV and live stream
Watch every stage of the 2026 Tour de France from start to finish live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
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Watch and stream the 2026 cycling season, including the Tour de France Femmes, on TNT Sports and HBO Max
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