Demi Vollering took to the stage alongside her FDJ United-SUEZ teammates at the annual Grand Départ presentation on Saturday to kick off the 2026 season.
In an on-stage interview, the European Champion stated that her sights are firmly set on securing a second-career yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift next August.
“Je veux gagner le Tour de France avec l’équipe,” Vollering said when asked to recite the phrases she had been practicing in French – “I want to win the Tour de France with the team.”
Vollering won the Tour de France Femmes in 2023 and has finished on the podium in every edition since the rebirth of the women’s French Grand Tour four years ago, finishing second place on three occasions, with Annemiek van Vleuten winning in 2022, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney winning in 2024, and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot winning the title in 2025.
Recently crowned European Champion, Vollering will start her second season with the French WorldTour team and has high expectations for the 16-rider roster, which also includes Juliette Labous, Évita Muzic, and Elise Chabbey.
“Next year will be a good challenge again, with some new riders on the team; we are really ready,” she said on stage.
“We are all motivated for the season. I saw us grow through the season last year. I feel that we have brought this motivation all the way to the end of this season and into the next. I’m really motivated to kick off the season next year.”
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Vollering spent four successful seasons with SD Worx-Protime before transferring to FDJ-SUEZ in 2025, where she won the first race of the season with her new outfit at Setmana Valenciana and then won Strade Bianche.
She went on to win the first Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España, before taking the overall titles, too, at Itzulia Women and the Volta a Catalunya.
At the Tour de France, she finished second to Visma-Lease a Bike’s Ferrand-Prévot, who proved to be a stronger climber in the high mountains.
However, Vollering stated that she was proud of FDJ-SUEZ’s overall team classification win and Elisa Chabbey’s mountains classification victory.
“I think it was a beautiful season, and we reached some beautiful goals with the team. Starting at Strade Bianche, it was a big goal for the team, and I was super happy that I could take the win. It was a very special one because the whole team was a big part of it. It was a beautiful race to win,” Vollering said.
“After the Vuelta, of course, the Grand Tour for the team, and so I’m really happy that we could do that as well. The Tour was a really good result with the team classification, polka-dot jersey with Elise.
“Overall, it was an amazing season for all of us.”
In a recent interview with L’Équipe, Vollering said that any races that she did not win this year serve as motivation for next year’s big goals, and that includes the Tour de France and the World Championships.
“Of course, I’m a winner; there are always things that can be improved. So obviously, both the Tour and the Worlds are on my mind; I would have liked to succeed in both,” she said. “But that’s sport, [not always winning] is what makes things more beautiful, too. If I manage to do that in the future, it’ll make those moments more special.”