NICE, France -- Dutch rider Demi Vollering won the Women's Tour de France for the second time, doing it in style by winning Sunday's ninth and final stage to extend her overall margin of victory.
She tried hard to hold back tears while the Dutch national anthem played. As it ended, a lone tear trickled down the side of Vollering's face. A few more soon followed as her achievement hit home.
"It's not only the dream of winning the Tour de France. It's also the dream of living this life, of working hard along with passionate people," the 29-year-old Vollering said. "It all starts with dreaming. Go chase the dreams and don't let anyone stop you."
The 2023 champion raised her bike in the air moments after crossing the finish line in Nice comfortably ahead of Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, the 2024 champion. Niewiadoma-Phinney started Sunday's stage eight seconds behind Vollering, who got a time bonus for winning the stage.
Knowing that she was well clear of her rival, Vollering began to celebrate as the line approached, raising her arm in triumph and then tapping her head with her finger to show her mental strength.
She finished the stage 1 minute, 4 seconds ahead of Spaniard Paula Blasi Cairol and Niewiadoma-Phinney and, after collecting the time bonus, ended up 1:18 clear of Niewiadoma-Phinney overall.
"I was thinking about a lot of things as I was approaching the finish line. I thought that I had never won in the yellow jersey before," Vollering said. "I thought about how much work has gone into this victory. I thought about the people who have been behind me."
Former Giro d'Italia champion Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy was third overall in the Tour -- 4:29 behind -- after Marlen Reusser lost valuable time after crashing going downhill after the second of the day's four climbs.
Reusser ended up 14th overall at nearly 26 minutes behind.
Niewiadoma-Phinney had it all to do on the final climb, especially with her rival sitting on her wheel, and was unable to pressure Vollering.
Vollering attacked about 800 meters from the top and dropped Niewiadoma-Phinney -- as she did when winning Saturday's eighth stage to take the overall lead from her rival.
Two years ago, Vollering missed out on Tour victory after finishing an agonizing four seconds behind Niewiadoma-Phinney on the last stage.
She made full amends this time.
The 29-year-old Vollering has now won five Grand Tours, including two Spanish Vuelta titles and the Giro d'Italia secured in June to join countrywoman Annemiek van Vleuten as the only other woman to have won all three Grand Tours.
"I still have a lot of dreams," Vollering said. "On and off the bike."
Each of the first three climbs on Sunday was 7.7 kilometers long with a 5.9% average gradient. But the final ascent branched off onto a slightly different route which, even though it was shorter at 6 kilometers, had a steeper average gradient of 7.6% with one portion stretching to a grueling 12%.
It made little difference.
After winning Friday's seventh stage with an impressive solo attack of her own up the iconic Mont Ventoux, Niewiadoma-Phinney seemed short of energy, and Vollering's lead was never under threat.