In the grand finale of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, it took Kasia Niewiadoma one minute and one second to break Demi Vollering's heart.

For Vollaring, who calls Alpe d'Huez “une montagne d'émotions” (the mountain of emotions), the overwhelming emotions she experienced when the overall elimination dawned were disappointment, distraction, and despondency.

Both riders were flooded with emotion, but the beautiful and cruel reality of cycling reared its ugly head again as one rider's elation juxtaposed with another's complete misery.

He lost his jersey in a crash on stage 5, lost 1:47 to his rival, missed a 4-second bonus second in the photo finish, and only lost 4 seconds to Niwiadma in yesterday's finale at Le Grand-Bornand.

“It's not so good right now. First of all, I feel really empty after today's effort. Of course, I'm also a little disappointed that I didn't win the yellow jersey by just four seconds.

“A day after the crash, I mean that's cycling. Of course, there are a lot of 'ifs.' [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]

“We were pushing on the flats and sometimes she wanted to turn with me, but at one point she said no more turns.

Volering, who wore clear sunglasses all day in conditions that changed from sunny to foggy, had the effort etched on his face from the 2.4km marker to the top of the Grandon and on to the finish with open arms at the Alpe d'Huez.

“I just tried to keep going as fast as I could, but it was really hard because I was really empty. It was a battle with myself,” Vollering said.

“Of course, I was a little scared that if Pauliena won from me, she would take the yellow jersey too.

She did not use that as an excuse, but Volering did comment that the pain after her high-speed crash on stage 5 affected her throughout the 150-km stage.

“I hurt my back after crashing in the Col du Grandon on stage 5. I think my back was sore from the crash. I fell off my butt, so my back was stiff.” [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]