Demi Vollering remains unbeaten in Itzulia and also writes 2nd stage to her name"

Demi Vollering remains unbeaten in Itzulia and also writes 2nd stage to her name"

“Deze winning streak is bijzonder”

13/05/2023

Demi Vollering also reigns supreme in the Basque Country in 2023. After winning all the stages of Itzulia last year, she remains unbeaten this season too. After yesterday, the Dutch rider also won the second stage and remains a bit more comfortable in the yellow leader's jersey. She is now 56 seconds ahead of her teammate Marlen Reusser, who takes the podium for the second day in a row.  "I knew my form was good, but to have won all five stages of Itzulia so far is really special," she said.

Linked race Itzulia Basque Country - Linked cyclists Demi Vollering - Gekoppelde ploegleiders: Danny Stam

After Demi Vollering reigned supreme on the climb in the first stage of Itzulia yesterday, Team SD Worx also won the second stage to its liking. The Dutch World Tour formation showed itself active and wanted to join a breakaway. Meanwhile, Niamh Fisher-Black gathered points for the mountain jersey. In the last two kilometres, Marlen Reusser hit an all-or-nothing attempt, but Annemiek van Vleuten caught her back. After which the Swiss express train drew the sprint for Demi Vollering, who supremely floored Soraya Paladin. Reusser still sprinted to place three. "I wasn't expecting this today," said winner Demi Vollering. "The plan was to pull Marlen's card in an attack. When that didn't work, I tried to go for it in the sprint. The finish ran up and that suits me. Marlen did a perfect lead-out for me, after which I was able to finish it off."

For Vollering, it is her third World Tour win in a row, her ninth win of the season and she remains unbeaten in Itzulia. "I can't believe it. Of course I hope to continue that line tomorrow. It would be a dream to score six out of six in the Basque Country, but tomorrow will be a difficult day. It will be important to stay safe. The climb in the final is difficult, followed by a nice descent and then a flat section to the finish. We showed today how strong our team is. So we are keen to be successful again tomorrow."

Thanks to her strong performance on the road, Niamh Fisher-Black leads alongside Demi Vollering in the mountain classification. "It was a treacherous race today, with narrow roads and some short climbs. It was a continuous positioning battle. The team's goal was to gather points with me for the mountain jersey. By continuously joining breakaways on the hills, we put pressure on the other teams. I therefore hope to win the mountain jersey tomorrow. A nice stage awaits us. It looks a bit like last year's final stage. In fact, there is a steep climb in it at the end. I think it could be another nice day for us, in which we will of course also try to defend the yellow."

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