Demi Vollering marked her debut for FDJ-SUEZ in an emphatic fashion, claiming victory on the opening stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. The Dutch rider attacked 18km from the finish and held off former teammates Marlen Reusser and Anna van der Breggen to take the stage win and the first leader’s jersey of the race.
Early moves and key attacks
The 112km stage from Alzira to Gandia featured a challenging route with three categorised climbs – Alto de Serra Grossa, Alto de Barxeta, and the final ascent of Alto de Barx, which peaked just 17km from the finish.
Marina Garau launched an early solo breakaway, extending her lead beyond a minute. Portuguese rider Mariana Líbano attempted to bridge across but was soon reeled back in by the peloton. Garau stayed ahead over the first climb, collecting maximum mountain points, before being caught on the descent.
Mischa Bredewold took the intermediate sprint, securing a three-second time bonus, as teams including FDJ-SUEZ, AG Insurance-Soudal and Movistar controlled the pace heading into the second climb.
Vollering makes her move
Vollering attacked on the Alto de Barx, quickly opening a gap. Initially, Van der Breggen managed to follow but was unable to respond to a second acceleration. With Reusser also unable to close the gap, Vollering extended her lead to 45 seconds by the summit and pressed on alone.
Reusser and Van der Breggen chased hard on the descent, but Vollering maintained a 30-second advantage to the finish in Gandia, securing her first win of the season. Reusser came in second, with Van der Breggen completing the podium. The peloton, led home by Elisa Balsamo in the bunch sprint for fourth, finished 1:30 behind.
Photo Credit: Luis Villacañas/Setmana CiclistaSpeaking after the stage, Vollering said she was delighted with her performance. “I’m really happy. I had a good feeling in recent weeks, and after the work of the girls, I just had to finish it today. I’m proud that I was able to do that.”
She praised her teammates for their role in the victory. “The girls did a really strong job. You saw that everyone believed 100% in the plan we had made and that everyone stuck to it. I’m very happy with this team; I get a lot of confidence from everyone here.”
Despite the dominant win, she acknowledged there was still room for improvement. “Of course, there are still things to work on, but this is already a good sign for the upcoming season.”
2025 Setmana Ciclista Valenciana Stage 1 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
