Demi Vollering, in the yellow jersey, starred in stage 4 of the Tour de France Femme. This stage combines the best parts of the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race she has won in the past. However, when it was officially announced that Puck Peterse (Phoenix-Desseuninck) had won the stage after a photo-finish sprint contest, Voerling said, “I have no regrets.”

“It was a good day for me and for the whole team. My teammates kept me safe and on top today.

The SD Works Pro Time rider spoke to the press at the rain-soaked Liège finish line.

Voerling, who currently leads the overall standings after winning the stage 3 time trial in Rotterdam the day before, was part of a three-rider breakaway group that sprinted for victory in Liège.

She, along with Pieterse and Cassia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), broke away from the pack on the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons with 13.4km remaining. Niewiadoma attacked in the final breakaway, but Vollering closed the gap when Pieterse sprinted from the third wheel. Volering responded and the two reached the finish line at the same time.

“I was hoping that Puck would close the gap [to Nienyadoma] first, but he didn't directly, so I didn't want to give Cassia too much space. We knew that Cassia was going to pull away a little bit in the last few hundred meters, so that was kind of a lead-out for us. We hoped she would keep going and luckily she did,” Vollering explained as the last few hundred meters of the stage unfolded.

“Puck started sprinting first. For a few seconds I thought I could make it, but at the finish line it wasn't enough and Pac won. I'm happy for Pac because he's a talented rider.

Vollering said she was not surprised that Pieterse won the sprint. Because she has had success in multiple disciplines in the sport and felt that Pieterse played a better tactical game in the final kilometer.

“I know Puck is a good athlete and I know she has a good sprint. In the last few kilometers, I felt like she was holding back a little bit. She could have done more. But she saved a little bit and attacked at the end. It was me and Cassia battling for GC, so it was fine. It was a good day,” Volering said.

Vollering said she was disappointed after finishing third in Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April, but had the opposite feeling when she finished second in the fourth stage of the Tour on a similar course.

“First of all, after the disappointment of the spring, it was nice to have a new opportunity here in the middle of the season.

“Also, I just wanted to race today with no regrets. I try not to think about those things because it's no good to have regrets after the finish, I was second and let's not forget that I was also aiming for GC today.

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