As the 2026 road cycling season draws to a close, Demi Vollering sparkles as the brightest diamond in the women’s peloton. For the second year in a row, the leader of FDJ United - Suez tops the Women Elite individual UCI World Ranking, a feat she first achieved in 2023 with Team SD Worx (now Team SD Worx - Protime). The Dutch rider constantly adds to her legacy in the making, and 2026 is arguably the 29-year-old’s best year.
With 16 wins this season, from mid-February until early October, Vollering has topped the most prestigious of podiums, including a maiden title of road race UCI World Champion, won in thrilling fashion just three weeks ago in Montréal, Canada. Her numerous conquests rewarded her with an impressive tally of 9,330 points and a significant advantage over her chasers, including fierce rival Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, runner-up to Vollering at both the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and the 2026 UCI Road World Championships.
Canyon//Sram’s Polish star amassed 5,660 points in 2026 and takes second place in the UCI World Ranking ahead of two UAE Team L’Imad riders, rising star Paula Blasi (5,201.3 points) and seasoned fuoriclasse Elisa Longo Borghini (5,109.3 points). The top five is completed by Lorena Wiebes (4,935 points), who’s racked up the most road victories in 2026 (24). The Dutch sprinter leads the way for Team SD Worx - Protime ahead of two teammates, her compatriot Anna van der Breggen (4,054 points) and Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (3,690 points).
From Flanders to Montréal
In her second season with FDJ United - Suez, Vollering immediately set a winning tone. During her first race of the season, the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana (12-15 February), she won two stages and the overall with a dominant display of strength over the Spanish climbs. Just two weeks later, she mastered a markedly different environment to win Omloop Nieuwsblad after escaping with Niewiadoma-Phinney on the Mur Kapelmuur.
Standing on the highest step of the Omloop Nieuwsblad podium after finishing second in 2022 and third in 2025 called for another cobbled first: early April, Vollering took her first Ronde van Vlaanderen, building on her team’s collective strength before soloing to victory from the Oude Kwaremont. The Dutch star hadn’t won any race in Belgium since 2023, but confidence from that Flanders victory carried over to the Ardennes, where she took her second victory at La Flèche Wallonne Femmes (after 2023) and her third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (after 2021 and 2023).
Vollering completed further one-day races in the latter stages of the season, where she enjoyed more success. Her eighth participation in the Women Elite road race at the UCI World Championships finally brought her a rainbow jersey after claiming medals in both the road race (second in 2023) and the individual time trial (second in 2024, third in 2025), as well as bronze at the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships. Racing aggressively over the Mont-Royal circuit in Montréal, Vollering showed nerves of steel to survive a breathtaking final lap and triumph ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini.
Just a week later, the new UCI World Champion headed to Slovenia where she retained the title of UEC European Champion she’d claimed in France last year. In Šenčur, she covered the last 15km alone to take victory ahead of her compatriot Puck Pieterse, also second in La Flèche Wallonne Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes.
The Giro - Tour double
Between her spring Classics conquest and her global success at the end of the season, Vollering also hammered home her dominance in stage races. She returned to the Giro d’Italia Women for the first time since finishing third in 2021. Since then, Vollering has established herself as one of the greatest riders of all time. But adding the maglia rosa to her palmares proved a very special moment.
Her former teammate and coach Van der Breggen delivered a stunning performance in the stage four Nevegal individual time trial (ITT). From then on, it was a race against the clock for Vollering to recover the time lost and reach the top of the overall standings. Her victories in Santo Stefano di Cadore (stage five) and on Colle delle Finestre (stage eight) were insufficient to overturn Van der Breggen’s lead. However, Vollering gave it her all on the final day around Saluzzo, ensuring she added the maglia rosa to her multicoloured collection of distinctive jerseys.
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift also proved an awesome challenge. FDJ United - Suez and their Dutch leader showed punch and intent to take victory in Belleville-en-Beaujolais (stage five). But Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) retained the maillot jaune she’d claimed the day before in Dijon. A couple of days later, Niewiadoma-Phinney flew to the stage win and the overall lead on Mont Ventoux (stage seven).
Vollering was second overall, the same position she held at the end of the Tour in 2022, 2024 and 2025. But this time, she turned the race upside down in the final weekend around Nice, claiming the title ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini. FDJ United - Suez and Vollering’s shared wishes came true. “I still have a lot of dreams, on and off the bike,” the winner commented before – successfully – shifting attention to her rainbow ambitions.