In stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya Femenina, Demi Vollering triumphed on the challenging 19.1km Coll de Pal climb to claim victory and the race leader's jersey. Attacking with 10.7km left, she distanced teammate Marion Bunel to win solo, finishing 31 seconds ahead. Elise Chabbey, who initially led Vollering, retained a podium position despite losing time. Vollering expressed the day’s challenges, including the heat and steep climbs, but remained focused on the general classification as she looked towards the final stage with a solid lead.
"It was a pretty hard day, a lot of climbing in the beginning, and it was super hot. We wanted to set a pace in the bunch because we wanted to drop some riders directly," said Vollering, recalling how the climb played out.
"I decided to attack, and only Bunel could follow me, so we were two, but the climb is not that steep, and there was a lot of headwind, so it was hard to set a pace. She was super strong today, so it was hard to get rid of her, but I managed in the last 600 metres or so."
"I think priority is GC [on stage 3], we already had 2 really hard days, and I really felt yesterday in the legs, so I made today a bit harder for myself."
Vollering took over the race lead from her teammate Elise Chabbey, who did a stellar job leading out the Dutch rider before her eventual attack.
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