Race officials relegated and fined Demi Vollering for celebrating behind FDJ-SUEZ teammate Loes Adegeest on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya Feminas in Barcelona on Sunday.
The gesture violated a new-for-2025 UCI rule that bans riders from endangering their competitors by celebrating or deliberately slowing down during a sprint finish.
“Oops, this finish photo costs me a 100 Swiss franc fine, UCI points [3 -ed] and my sixth place,” Vollering posted on Instagram.
Vollering was relegated to 58th place, but it did not affect her standing in the final overall classification, which she won by 2:08 over teammate Elise Chabbey. Visma-Lease a Bike’s Marion Bunel was third.
“But one heck of a photo, don’t you think?” Vollering wrote atop a copy of the photo above. “No, seriously, I won’t do it again, at I’ll least try. It’s a hard rule to get used to, but I promise. I understand the importance of these rules around safety.”
Vollering’s team won all three stages of the Volta a Catalunya. Chabbey won the opening stage ahead of Vollering, who turned around the next day and soloed to the win on the Coll de Pal. Finally, Adegeest won the bunch sprint in Barcelona.
The overall win was Vollering’s fourth of the season in Spanish stage races after she claimed the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana in February, and the Vuelta España Femenina and women’s Itzulia last month.
