Like every day, Lance Armstrong analyzed the final stage of the Women’s Tour de France in his podcast The Move, in which the leader, big favorite and defending champion Demi Vollering suffered a crash that cost her the overall lead and a lot of time.
The Dutch rider crashed in the leading group less than 10 kilometers from the finish, but neither of her two teammates, Blanka Kata Vas and Lorena Wiebes, who were riding with her at the time, stopped and she ended up riding alone to the finish line, losing a minute and a half and the lead of the race to Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma.
Her teammate Vas from Team SD Worx – Protime ended up winning the stage, while Wiebes looked for her chances to sprint behind Vas in the peloton. Armstrong did not go so far as to call this behavior unacceptable:
“When the team leader is wearing the yellow jersey and she’s down, you don’t let anyone ride up front. It was a bipolar day for SD Worx. The big favorite of this Tour de France loses more than a minute and still wins the stage. Blanka Vas. You only have two riders next to you, Blanka Vas and Lorena Wiebes. They come back immediately. I don’t care how much anyone wants to win a stage, I don’t care how important it is, everyone comes back and they didn’t. To see a yellow jersey wearer ride alone is totally unacceptable.”
