European champion Demi Vollering defied the odds to secure her first Giro d’Italia Women victory on Sunday – and her very own Grand Tour triple crown.
Riders of the women’s edition of the Giro d’Italia raced through nine gruelling stages across Italy with an altitude gain of 12,100 metres.
Anna van der Breggen of Team SD Worx – Protime had the Maglia Rosa for five stages and was on her way to secure it on the last day, until an upset from her former student Vollering changed the tides of the race in one of the most dramatic finales in the Giro’s history.
Mentor and student in epic showdown
Vollering had to contend with a strong field of contenders, including time triallist champion Marlen Reusser of Movistar Team and two-time Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini of the UAE Team ADQ.
Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo surged to a dominating win in the first three stages of the race, which also earned her the Maglia Rosa.
But the individual time trial in stage four shook the rankings, with van der Breggen defeating everyone to not only take that stage but also steal the lead from Balsamo.
Vollering had to do damage control for the most part since then, racing to win stage five and again in the shortened queen mountain stage up the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday.
By then, Vollering only had a 49-second gap to van der Breggen, her former mentor back when they were teammates in 2021 for SD Worx before she went on to become the team’s assistant sports director until 2024.
Van der Breggen returned to the professional cycling scene in 2025 as a rider, the same year Vollering started her contract with FDJ United – SUEZ.
Both Dutch riders were keen to have the upper hand in the final stage on Sunday, with van der Breggen aiming to defend her position and Vollering looking for a way to upset her lead.
The race changed hands the moment the riders came to the Montoso climb, more than 90 kilometres before the finish line, after Vollering’s FDJ-SUEZ upped the pace and shattered the peloton, which in turn reduced the front group to just seven riders.
Borghini, Niedermaier of CANYON//SRAM, and Niamh Fisher-Black of Lidl-Trek went ahead to form a breakaway with a gap that stretched to more than two minutes to the other riders.
The sudden acceleration put Niedermaier in the virtual Maglia Rosa, but another battle was brewing just behind the front group.
Isolated after her teammate Valentina Cavallar was dropped earlier, van der Breggen found herself not only trying to reel in the breakaway and reduce the gap but also battling with Vollering and her teammate Lauren Dickson.
As they ascended the Colletto di Brondello, the final climb of the Giro, Dickson rode back, allowing for a showdown between Vollering and van der Breggen – until the former dealt the blow and attacked one kilometre from the summit.
With Vollering detaching herself from van der Breggen, she quickly pursued the breakaway.
The four riders fought for the stage win in an explosive sprint, and while Borghini rode to a spectacular stage victory, it was Vollering who ended up with the Italian crown to her palmares.
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Vollering ‘dares to lose’ to win
Niedermaier’s dominating performance pushed her to finish overall second while van der Breggen completed the podium in third.
Vollering becomes just the second rider in history to complete the Grand Tour set after Annemiek van Vleuten.
“It is unreal. I still cannot find the words,” a happy Vollering said after the race in a report from IDL Pro Cycling.
“Today was purely about daring to lose. I had to dare to lose everything, and I did. I let Antonia (Niedermaier) go.”
She also praised her team, saying they were motivated from the start.
“From the start they were on fire. They absolutely wanted to be in the breakaway. Unfortunately, that did not work out.”
“But on the longest and hardest climb they immediately set a high pace. Lauren (Dickson) in particular was amazing today. She just kept going,” she added.
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Heartbreak for van der Breggen
While Vollering turned the tide in her favour, it was heartbreak for another rider.
If van der Breggen had won this year’s Giro, she would have taken her fifth title to equal the all time-record of Fabiana Luperini.
“Vollering then attacked again on the final climb. I tried to follow, but she was simply stronger today,” she said in an interview with Eurosport.
“I did everything I could, but I was also taking a scenario like this into account.
“It is a shame to lose the jersey in the end, but I gave everything. That is the result.”
Despite the loss, which came after her missed overall victory in the Vuelta Femenina in early May, van der Breggen was still positive, saying she was still proud of her performance.
“I did not expect to get this far. If we can improve a little more, there is still a lot possible.
“Of course I am disappointed, but I am proud of the team and of my own fighting spirit,” she concluded.
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