Demi Volering (SD Worx-Protime) only lost 4 seconds to Tour de France femme race leader Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) on stage 7 at Le Grand-Bornand, but the team is confident that for the queen stage she is confident she can regain 1:15 and retake the yellow jersey.

Volering attempted several short bursts on the final 7km climb to China Lyon, but was not very successful due to the relatively shallow average gradient of 5.1%. However, he was less successful due to the relatively shallow average gradient of 5.1%. After a careful approach to the line, Vollering jumped on the Nieuwadma rapids and earned bonus seconds behind stage winners Justine Géquière (AG Insurance - Sourdal) and Maeva Skuban (Arkea - B&B Hotels Women).

Leading domestique Misha Bredewald has great confidence in her compatriot to take back the yellow and the remaining time tomorrow needed to defend her title, and she knows Volering well from their three-week high-altitude training camp together in Bride-les-Bains before the Tour.

“Yeah, I'm confident about that,” Bredewald told Cycling News. 'Demi is very strong and I think she got a couple of seconds back, so that's a big confidence boost for her.'

Volering was more cautious about how she expressed her confidence heading into the queen stage, not wanting to put too much pressure on herself or underestimate the ability of the two-time Tour podium winner Niwiy Adma.

“It is difficult to say how strong Cassia is. She could not make a difference on this climb. She didn't have the courage to try on her own. It's a good feeling that she is anxious,” Vollering told the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

“But we still have to see if I am good enough to close the gap with her in GC. If I say now that I can easily go to GC and I don't, the media will kill me. I don't want that to happen.”

The stage will be dominated by the brutal eaux-category duo of Col du Grandon (19.7km, 7.2%) and Alpe d'Huez (13.8km, 8.1%), but Völlering's key climbing domestique, Niamh Fischer= Black also believes there is more than enough hard terrain to make up time from his rivals.

“Cassia is a strong competitor. But on a climb like this, you can gain a few minutes over the course of a few kilometers. It's a matter of reading the race and seeing how Demi moves. Hopefully we can do something special.”

“We've already seen the fireworks at Grandon and witnessed how steep it is. We have already seen today that Canyon is isolated on this climb.

Volering also believes that Nieuwiedma was stressed because she was isolated, with no one to help her on the climb of Le Grand-Bornand, such as Neve Bradbury.

“I wanted to make Cassia nervous and I think I did. She was nervous the whole time and looking over her shoulder,” Volering said. That felt good. I was able to create a slight gap at the end.”

The terrain was perfect for Vollaring, her body recovering from her stage 5 crash, and the one-on-one showdown on the Alpe d'Huez with its legendary 21st corner.

“Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow. And there are more serious climbs ahead, and I think that's enough,” Voerling told Dutch television.

“My body held up well today. It's the end of the Tour de France, so nobody is in good shape anymore. Now I have to recover quickly and focus on tomorrow. I don't know if I will succeed. I don't want to get too attached and I don't want to put pressure on myself to do it.

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