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
