Demi Vollering didn’t sustain any broken bones during the high-speed crash which lost her the yellow jersey on stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes and she is likely to start stage 6 according to SD Worx-Protime.
The defending champion went down 6.3km from the finish in Amnéville and was spotted clutching at the top of her left leg before finally remounting 49 seconds after the incident. But a medical update posted to the team’s social media page on Thursday evening revealed that the injuries were largely superficial, albeit with some road rash.
“Demi Vollering was examined at the hotel by the Team SD Worx-Protime team doctor after her fall in the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes. She suffered minor bruising and superficial abrasions to her lower back and buttock,” read the post.
“The focus of treatment is to recover. It looks positive that Vollering will be able to continue the Tour on Friday.”
Vollering posted two tongue-in-cheek posts to her Instagram after the stage, reading “When my ass was still in one piece”, and “Don’t come close to me tomorrow”, also suggesting that she will take the start in Remiremont.
While she struggled to the finish and limited her losses to 1:49 at the line from teammate and stage winner Blanka Vas, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) took second on the day and moved into the yellow jersey.
Chaos unfolded for SD Worx-Protime in the run to the line, with Mischa Bredewold questioning the safety of the roundabout exit which Vollering crashed on and sports manager Danny Stam stating that radio problems were the reason for only Bredewold dropping back to help her.
Vollering didn’t focus on her new deficit of 1:19 on Niewiadoma as she dropped to ninth place but instead was just pleased that the crash wasn’t as severe as it could have been, given the speed.
“Considering how fast I fell, I’m glad I didn’t suffer any broken bones. After the fall I had to recover and check everything. Then I was able to get back on my bike and continue the race,” said Vollering in the same post.
“Now we have to wait and see how it feels tomorrow morning, but I assume I will be able to continue the Tour tomorrow.”
With three stages remaining, Vollering is coming into the terrain which suits her best, the high mountains, but Niewiadoma has a significant lead to defend with, so she will need to find her best on the Grand Bornand and Alpe d’Huez summit finishes if she is to wrest back yellow from the Polish rider.
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