Tour de France winner Kasia Niewiadoma elaborated on the obvious tension between her and defending champion Demi Vollering after the final stage of this year's race, which Niewiadoma won by a slim four-second margin over the SD Worx-Protime star during an appearance at Rouleur Live this week.
Niewiadoma took over the race lead when Vollering was caught up in a mass crash in a turn with 6.3km to go on stage 5 to Amnéville. Vollering led Niewiadoma by 34 seconds before the stage but lost 1:47 due to the crash.
On the final stage 8 to the summit of Alpe d'Huez, Vollering soloed to the stage win but was four seconds short of unseating Niewiadoma, who took home the overall victory.
Vollering was visibly distraught following the race after losing the Tour de France in the closest margin in history and Niewiadoma described the uncomfortable moment she met Vollering in the dressing area to change for the podium.
"I like barged in there ... super happy, ready to celebrate. And there was a funeral vibe in there," Niewiadoma recalled. "I looked at the faces and I see Demi - no one is talking. And I'm like, 'Good job, girls. Congratulations on a hard stage'. And then, no response. I was like, 'OK, I'm leaving'. So, yeah, I got changed outside."
Niewiadoma said she felt that some bitterness was directed toward her because of Vollering's crash that moved her into the maillot jaune. "I was surprised that I managed to do that, but it was a bittersweet moment, because, I could see my team being so happy, and a lot of friends were celebrating, yet I could also feel this bitterness from Demi, from SD Worx, or Demi's fans," Niewiadoma said.
"It felt weird in some ways because none of us crashed her. The whole stage was very hectic, and it was about positioning the whole day. Crashes happen - nobody's angry at Remco [Evenepoel] for being third during the Tour de France because [Primož] Roglič crashed - there are moments that happen like this all the time.
"I think it's about how people handle it - I also think that it's all in some ways about life and how karma comes back to you," she said, pausing for laughter in the crowd before explaining further. "Annemiek crashed on the last stage of the first Tour de France edition and SD Worx was the team to ride full gas to drop her.
"No one remembers that because Annemiek actually chased us back and then she attacked us. I remember every race very vividly. So it feels like, the Tour de France was this perfect display of how sometimes, all the stars just have to align. And besides being strong, you have to be lucky."
Niewiadoma added that she tries to avoid any sort of conflict and has respect for her rivals win or lose. "I also do respect Demi, yet, I definitely got a weird vibe from her, and again, I didn't crash her. So I think it's maybe because we're different. I wasn't looking for drama. I wasn't looking for any sort of mental game with her towards the end of the Tour, because to me, all that mattered was, is my team in the yellow jersey?"
