Fulling thanks team after second Vuelta win: ‘Everyone has a new role’

On the heavy final climb of the Vuelta Femenina, Demi Volling once again showed that he was the best climber in the women’s square. “Fortunately,” laughs the brand new double winner of the Spanish stage race.

Fulling reacts strikingly sober to her second Vuelta win: “What does this do to me? Not much. It’s just a very nice game on my record again. I am just happy that things went so well with the whole team.”

Before the final ride, Volling had already built up a comfortable lead, so in the last three heavy kilometers uphill, she really only had to follow her challengers. Whether she found that difficult? “On the one hand, I always want to get everything out of it and I like to push myself to the hole.”

“But now I didn’t need anything and was waiting, waiting, waiting. Then throw in an attack and hope that nobody can follow. Fortunately that went well.”

Volling demarcated 700 meters before the finish and soloed to the win in the pouring rain: for example, she booked her second stage victory of the week and her second final victory in the Vuelta in a row.

The first attempt on the final climb to get away from its competitors did not yet yield the desired success. “Just putting the legs on tension,” says fulling with a wink.

“The pace dropped and then I thought: maybe I have to go now. But it was just a bit too flat and then they could follow me well. So I let myself sink and tried again later.”

Fulling also compliments her new teammates from FDJ-Suez. Last year the 28-year-old rider rode at Champion team SD Worx, where she had teammates with experience in winning big competitions.

That is different now. Volling: “None of these girls has ever had to defend a leader’s jersey. Everyone has quite a new role. You may not always see it in the competition, but every teammate is so important to the finish. The girls who have to check it from the first moment give everything. Nice to see.”

In this Vuelta, fulling was a leader who radiated peace and conviction: she never got into trouble. “That’s right, but the girls around me are also calm. I had the idea that we were in good control and that gives confidence for the future. We push each other to a higher level. Hopefully we will keep doing that.”