Teams announced for 2021 La Course by Le Tour de France
22 teams to start in Brittany for 8th edition of the Women’s WorldTour race
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.
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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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