Demi Vollering debuts in the rainbow jersey by winning the European Championships

Demi Vollering continues to extend an almost perfect season finale. Just a week after being crowned world champion in Montreal, the Dutch rider has won the European Road Championship in Slovenia, thus retaining the continental title she won last year.

It was also her first race wearing the rainbow jersey, and Vollering debuted it by attacking on the decisive climb and arriving solo at the finish line.

Vollering adds the European title just a week after the World Championship

The women's race was contested over 130 kilometers and had the climb to Možjanca as its main selection point. A 2.1-kilometer ascent at 10.4% that had to be tackled twice and ultimately decided the championship.

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The Netherlands took much of the control from the early kilometers. Carina Schrempf and Margot Vanpachtenbeke were the protagonists of the initial breakaway, but the peloton never allowed their lead to grow too much, and both were neutralized before entering the decisive phase.

The first ascent to Možjanca already left the group of favorites very reduced. The initial pace set by Karlijn Swinkels and later an acceleration by Marlen Reusser selected the race until a front group formed with some of the main contenders: Vollering, Puck Pieterse, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Elisa Longo Borghini, Antonia Niedermaier, Juliette Berthet, and Reusser herself.

There were then several attempts to break away. Franziska Koch and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig managed to open a gap with less than 30 kilometers to go, and once neutralized, Liane Lippert, Noemi Rüegg, and Femke de Vries tried their luck before the final climb. But everything ended up being resolved as expected.

Puck Pieterse prepares the attack and Vollering finishes it off

De Vries increased the pace at the start of the final ascent, and then it was Puck Pieterse who took over. The Dutch rider pushed the group to its limits, leaving only Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney able to follow her wheel.

With 14.6 kilometers still to go, Vollering launched the decisive attack. Niewiadoma-Phinney could not respond, and Pieterse, with her companion already escaped, began to control the chase.

The world champion crowned solo and had about 35 seconds of advantage. Behind, Pieterse, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Reusser, Longo Borghini, and Niedermaier grouped together, but the chase was already focused on the other two medals.

Vollering maintained her lead during the fast final stretch towards Šenčur and was able to celebrate her second consecutive European Championship solo. It was also her first victory wearing the rainbow jersey she won a week earlier in Montreal.

The fight for the medals had one last scare. Niewiadoma-Phinney suffered a fall in the last corner that also affected Niedermaier, while Pieterse won the sprint of the group to take silver and complete the Dutch double. Marlen Reusser finished third.

The result also extends the extraordinary dominance of the Netherlands in the women's European Championship: the Dutch have won ten of the eleven editions held since 2016.

Top 10 European Championship 2026 – Elite Women

1. Demi Vollering (Netherlands) — 3:10:33
2. Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) — +5"
3. Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) — +5"
4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) — +5"
5. Antonia Niedermaier (Germany) — +15"
6. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland) — +45"
7. Juliette Berthet (France) — +59"
8. Franziska Koch (Germany) — +1:55
9. Usoa Ostolaza (Spain) — +1:55
10. Femke de Vries (Netherlands) — +1:56