Teams announced for 2021 La Course by Le Tour de France

La Course by Le Tour de France 2020
La Course by Le Tour de France in 2020 (Image credit: Getty Images)

The organisers of La Course by Le Tour de France have announced that in addition to the nine UCI Women's WorldTeams invited to the June 26 one-day race, 13 Continental teams will line up to take on the Women's WorldTour event. 

Four of the top-tier teams feature a past victor on their rosters, while new Continental squad Jumbo-Visma expects to bring two-time winner Marianne Vos.

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) said the nine UCI WorldTeams with automatic invitations to the 107.4 kilometre race, which will run alongside stage 1 of the Tour de France on Saturday June 26. They are Alè BTC Ljubljana, Canyon-SRAM, FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope, Liv Racing, Movistar, Team BikeExchange, Team DSM, SD Worx, and Trek-Segafredo.

The Continental teams include Arkéa Pro Cycling Team, AR Monex, Bizkaia–Durango, Ceratizit-WNT, Drops-Le Col Supported By Tempur, Jumbo-Visma, Massi Tactic, Parkhotel Valkenburg, Rally Cycling, Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime, TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank, Top Girls Fassa Bortolo and Valcar-Travel & Service.

The one-day race will start in Brest and finish with three laps of a 14-kilometre loop with the finish line atop the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups. 

This will be a similar course to the one used by the men on stage 1 of the Tour de France from Brest to Landerneau.

The date and course was changed a month ago, when ASO shifted the race from June 27 to June 26 in a move that it said was to avoid conflict with rescheduled regional elections being held in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany.

The 2020 edition of La Course by Le Tour de France, which was originally scheduled for July 19 as a circuit race in Paris, was also rescheduled as part of the massive calendar rearrangement due to COVID-19. The event was shifted to August 29 and changed to a road race in Nice to coincide with the opening stage of the men’s Tour de France. Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) won the 96-kilometre race over Vos in a sprint on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais.

La Course by Le Tour de France was established by ASO in 2014 as a circuit race in Paris on the final day of the men's Grand Tour. After three years, a two-day event was introduced in 2017, which saw a summit finish on the Col d'Izoard on the same day as stage 18 of the men’s race, followed by a time trial in Marseille.

The race has shifted back to a one-day affair since, with 2018 being a mountainous road race between Annecy and Le Grand-Bornand and 2019 providing a hilly circuit race in Pau.

ASO is expected to finally create a women's Tour de France in 2022.

2021 La Course by Le Tour de France teams:

  • Alè BTC Ljubljana
  • Canyon-SRAM Racing
  • FDJ Nouvelle - Aquitaine Futuroscope
  • Liv Racing
  • Movistar Team Women
  • Team BikeExchange
  • Team DSM
  • Team SD Worx
  • Trek-Segafredo
  • Arkéa Pro Cycling Team
  • AR Monex Women's Pro Cycling Team
  • Bizkaia – Durango
  • Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
  • Drops-Le Col Supported By Tempur
  • Jumbo-Visma Women Team
  • Massi Tactic Women Team
  • Parkhotel Valkenburg
  • Rally Cycling
  • Stade Rochelais Charente- Maritime Women Cycling
  • Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank
  • Top Girls Fassa Bortolo
  • Valcar - Travel & Service

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